Jacques Kallis marked the end of his Test career with an emotive farewell century on Sunday to give South Africa a chance of victory over India going into the last day of their brief two-match series.
Virat Kohli will face the toughest battle of his fledgling captaincy career when India take on a resurgent Australia in the second cricket Test.
Sunil Gavaskar has been quite unhappy with Team India's performance.
Rediff.com introduces you to the athletes who have brought India glory in Birmingham.
Skipper Parthiv Patel struck an exemplary fifty, while Axar Patel chipped in with an unbeaten 36, after picking two crucial wickets, as Gujarat edged out Vidarbha by two wickets and advanced to the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-day tournament, in Alur, Karnataka, on Thursday.
'It is not just about one skill anymore, so everyone needs to contribute with whatever they can.' 'It certainly puts the opposition on the defensive when you know that all eleven can bat.'
Young Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar, who has impressed in recent times but had failed the Yo-Yo test, said he is hopeful of clearing it in the future.
India lost the second Test by an innings and 159 runs on Day 4 at Lord's as a dominant England took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
All the Indian batsmen and bowlers will get a look in and skipper Virat Kohli is expected to decide his best possible combination for the playing eleven for the first Test depending on their performances in the coming two days.
Ravindra Jadeja stole the show while Umesh Yadav bowled his heart out.
South Africans take the top 3 slots in Most Valuable Player Index.
Captain Virat Kohli's huge workload will come up for discussion while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to make a comeback when the selectors announce the India squad for T20 and Test series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively.
Gujarat left-arm spinner Akshar Patel was recalled to the Indian squad for the last two One-Day Internationals against West Indies, while senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continues to be rested.
Tit-for-tat accusations of cheating and foul play only for it to rise magnificently in the wake of some quality cricket by the bitterest of antagonists.
Ishant Sharma exploited the seaming conditions brilliantly to return a career-best 6 for 51 as India took early control of the second and final Test by bowling out New Zealand for a paltry 192 in the first innings in Wellington on Friday. Opener Shikhar Dhawan then hit an unbeaten half-century as India reached 100 for 2 at close, still trailing by 92 runs at the Basin Reserve.
'The way Vijay and Rahul batted in second innings, I think it was overcast and very important phase, they took on the bowlers, especially Rahul. I think those contributions should not be neglected. A 44-run contribution in the context of a 323-run target is massive'
India captain Virat Kohli today said that Murali Vijay's dismissal proved to be the turning point in their 48-run defeat against Australia in the first cricket Test, in Adelaide on Saturday.
Up-and-coming Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul and Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Karn Sharma were named in India's 19-man Test squad for the tour of Australia, which was announced after the selection committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Monday morning. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the opening Test, from December 4, at the Gabba in Brisbane, because of an injury and Virat Kohli will stand in for him.
Shikhar Dhawan might have had a nightmarish time with the bat in the ongoing first cricket Test against South Africa, but former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, on Friday, came in support of the opener, saying going by his record the left-hander deserves another chance.
Former Test cricketer Sandeep Patil was selected coach.
When India lost the Wellington Test by 10 wickets, was it the worst defeat for Virat Kohli's team? Rajneesh Gupta has the answers.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
A defiant Ajinkya Rahane hit a superb 103 to pull India out of trouble after a mid-innings collapse on a lively track at Lord's, as the visitors ended the first day's play on a respectable 290 for nine on Day 1 of the second Test in London.
Kohli was at his aggressive best in the just-concluded second Test against Sri Lanka as he smashed a strokeful 213 off 267 balls to help India amass a huge first innings total.
Chennai Super Kings will be aiming to tie up loose ends ahead of the play-offs when they take on a listless Delhi Daredevils
Vanquished England skipper Alastair Cook blamed missed chances and lack of spin-bowling options for losing the fourth Test by an innings and 36 runs and with that the five-match series, in Mumbai on Monday.
In-form skipper Virat Kohli (64) and teenage prodigy Prithvi Shaw (66) were among the five Indian batsmen who struck fifties before the visitors were bowled out for 358 on the second day of the rain-hit practice game against Cricket Australia XI in Sydney.
Troubled England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are among the 16 marquee players for the upcoming Indian Premier League Players' Auction in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.
A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy group matches played on Thursday.
Virender Sehwag still feels the insatiable hunger for scoring runs and says he would like to make the most of his current form by scoring 'big runs' for Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
A draw may seem the most likely outcome but England leg-spinner Adil Rashid did not rule out the possibility of a result in the opening cricket Test against India in Rajkot on Saturday. The match meandered towards a draw after a solid century stand by the visiting team's openers - Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed - in their second innings on the fourth and penultimate day. "I think all three (victory for either team or draw) are possible. There's still a lot of cricket to be played tomorrow (Sunday). First we got to come out, get the runs on the board and see what position we are at lunch time.
The average top executive monthly compensation is Rs 1 crore. The median employee salary is now Rs 820,000.
India's Team Director Ravi Shastri on Friday said that South Africa are still a formidable side despite the retirement of some big players recently but his side will continue their aggressive brand of cricket in the upcoming series beginning on October 2.
Insisting that Indian players have played on worse tracks back home, vice captain Ajinkya Rahane termed the Wanderers' pitch as 'challenging' and not dangerous.
New Zealand's pace attack ripped through India's top order to reduce the tourists to 45 for three at tea on the second day of the first Test at Eden Park in Auckland, on Friday after Brendon McCullum's 224 propelled them to an impressive first innings total of 503.
Livid with the criticism that pitches for the ongoing series against South Africa are not sporting enough, Indian Team Director Ravi Shastri said there is nothing wrong with Test matches folding up in three days and the critics should "stop cribbing".
If KL Rahul is fit, Abhinav Mukund will be expectedly left out, a strange coincidence because he was the original back-up opener in this Test squad ahead of Shikhar Dhawan.
Former Sri Lanka captain attributes the Indian team's debacle in the first two Tests against England to lack of preparation.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar said that India should field five specialist bowlers by leaving out Stuart Binny from the playing XI if they want to win the third and final Test against Sri Lanka beginning Friday in Colombo.
Table-toppers Chennai Super Kings will look to complete the double against Kolkata Knight Riders, just like Delhi Capitals did, when the teams clash in Sunday's IPL match in Kolkata. The home side's consistency has suddenly taken a beating after two defeats on the trot, first in Chennai and then against Delhi Capitals on Friday night. Thus, the Knight Riders will be under immense pressure to arrest the slide when they face mighty Chennai.
