South Africa secured a fourth successive One-day International victory over Australia as captain Faf du Plessis top scored with 69 runs in a six-wicket win on Sunday.
Litmus test awaits India and MS Dhoni in second ODI against South Africa.
South Africa returned to the top of the ICC ODI Team Rankings.
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar rejected criticism of the pitches in the ongoing Test series against South Africa, and said the blame rather lies with the Proteas batsmen, who lack 'application, technique and temperament'.
4 Aussies, 3 Indians, 1 Kiwi, 3 South Africans in Harish Kotian's World Cup 2023 Dream XI.
Talented Indian batsman Virat Kohli jumped three places to joint second in the latest ICC ODI players' rankings issued on Monday.
South Africa has the opportunity to dethrone Australia and secure the top spot in the LG ICC ODI Championship Table at the April 1 cut-off if it sweeps the three-match series against Bangladesh starting in Chittagong on Sunday. Australia and South Africa are currently both sitting on 127 ratings points but Graeme Smith's side is behind Ricky Ponting's side by just 0.529 of a point when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
IMAGES from the World Cup match between India and South Africa played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday
Having decimated South Africa inside three days on a turning track in Mohali, India will again look to unleash their troika of spinners to spoil A B de Villiers's landmark 100th match when the two sides meet in the second Test, in Bangalore, on Saturday.
The World Cup trophy was not meant to be his, but India's 'Captain Fearless' Rohit Sharma gave everything on the field and so did Mohammed Shami, who set the record for most fifers in the tournament's history.
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa, in Chennai, on Friday.
'He knows what works best for him in the shortest format, T20. It's probably just about finding that balance at international level as well'
Mohammed Shami's absence will certainly leave a gaping hole in India's planning but former South African pacer Fanie de Villiers believes that Rohit Sharma's men have the best chance of ending a 31-year wait for a Test series win in the Rainbow Nation.
Living up to their 'perennial chokers' tag, South Africa lost to the Netherlands in their concluding Super 12 match to crash out of the T20 World Cup.
Shikhar Dhawan said twin rain breaks coupled with reprieves to David Miller cost India dearly
South Africa's middle-order batter Aiden Markram rued his inability to take the game deep despite top-scoring for his side, saying the Indian bowlers didn't give the visitors any freebies during the second ODI in Ranchi on Sunday.
IMAGES from the 2nd ODI played between India and South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday.
Agarkar found it difficult to understand the logic behind the constant change of batting position of Rahul
Dhawan said that he keeps the doors of communication opens to the youngsters.
With India being outplayed in the Twenty20s, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will face added pressure to perform and lead India from the front against a formidable South African unit in the five-match ODI cricket series starting in Kanpur on Sunday.
Martin Guptill will not be included in the New Zealand squad for the upcoming Test series against South Africa despite a brilliant matchwinning innings in the one-dayer against the Proteas on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old South African cricketer's decision effectively also ended his association with his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The talented Punjab youngster Gurkeerat Singh Mann was selected for the upcoming One-day International series against South Africa.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan believes the Indian ODI team now has the right balance and x-factor to succeed anywhere, holding the number one side in good stead ahead of the 2019 World Cup in England.
Away from the 50-over format for a while, India were placed third while mainstay Virat Kohli held the second position in the batting chart in the latest ICC ODI rankings released in Dubai on Friday. India were positioned third with 110 points behind Australia (124) and New Zealand (113). With 813 points in his kitty, Kohli was only behind South African talisman AB de Villiers and a place ahead of another experienced Protea Hashim Amla in the batting list.
Dhoni returns to the Indian dressing room after three months and for him the series will be start of the preparation for next year's World Twenty20, that will be hosted by India.
The most interesting aspect of the contest is the form of batters from both sides which has been the reason of their success so far.
'I am proud of the boys, the way they played in the series. The way they carried the responsibility and showed maturity.'
'No one can be as destructive like him. His hundreds are BIG!, 150, 170, double hundreds,' Dinesh Lad, Rohit's childhood coach, tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian. 'If he stays at the wicket long enough, then anything is possible.'
Batsman AB de Villiers has stepped down as captain of South Africa's One-Day International team but has said he is ready to play all three formats of the game after a self-imposed exile from Test cricket.
India's Virat Kohli slipped a rung but is still the best-placed Indian batsman in third position in the latest the International Cricket Council One-Day batsmen's rankings released on Tuesday.
Images from the rain-curtailed 1st ODI between India and South Africa in Lucknow on Thursday.
Opening batsman David Warner made his first one-day international (ODI) century outside Australia to set his team on their way to a 36-run victory over South Africa in the fourth match of a triangular ODI series.
West Indies legend Brian Lara has called for the return of stars Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo for next month's one-day international tri-series against Australia and South Africa. Both Pollard and Bravo have been overlooked by selectors for the Windies ODI side since the abandoned tour of India in October 2014, despite still being chosen for Twenty20 International honours. "In terms of the tri-nations, I think it's going to be a pretty exciting tri-nations series," Lara said on Wednesday. "And hopefully we can have the likes of Pollard and Bravo - some guys who have not played that form of the game (recently) - back in the team because they are integral of any West Indies team. "Just to have them for the T20 version I think is doing a disservice to the West Indies cricket." Bravo was part of the Windies' World T20 title-winning XI, while Pollard was initially selected in the squad for the tournament before being forced to pull out due to his continued recovery from a knee injury suffered in South Africa's domestic T20 competition last November. However under the West Indies Cricket Board regulations, neither player is eligible for the tournament after failing to participate in January's domestic Super50 competition.
Australia captain Michael Clarke will miss rest of the One-day international series against South Africa with a hamstring injury, the country's cricket board (CA) said on Saturday.
India's tour of South Africa later this year will commence with the visitors playing Twenty20 and 50-over internationals against the hosts before taking them on in a three-Test series.
India stalwart Virat Kohli retained his second spot in the ICC men's ODI batting rankings on the back of his decent performance in the recently-concluded three-match series in South Africa.
South Africa's Faf du Plessis smashed a career-best 185 off 141 balls as the hosts beat Sri Lanka by 40 runs after surviving a fierce onslaught in a high-scoring fourth one-day international to take a 4-0 series lead on Tuesday.
Quinton De Kock said former captain Faf du Plessis' comeback after being rested for the Australia series, will hold the visitors in a good stead in the upcoming ODIs.
Two Indian batsmen are now in the top five of the ICC ODI rankings, with Virat Kohli remaining at number three and opener Shikhar Dhawan climbing up the ladder to fifth after earning four places in the latest list issued on Wednesday.
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