India's head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that his team didn't play "smart cricket at crucial times", but backed the beleaguered K L Rahul to get better as a leader in the coming days.
Leading players from top countries are clearly already struggling to cope with the demands of international cricket's packed calendar.
Seamer Lungi Ngidi showed all his guile to take five wickets for 19 runs as South Africa skittled West Indies for 97 and seized the initiative on the first day of the first Test in Saint Lucia on Thursday.
Images from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
The loss of Bavuma will further weaken their top six, especially as the experienced Reeza Hendricks has withdrawn from the squad after the birth of his first child, while the in-form Rassie van der Dussen is doubtful for the first match of the series, at least, with a grade one left quadriceps strain.
Whether he is batting in the middle or fielding at the boundary line, Virat Kohli's every move will be tracked, though some of that attention will now be on skipper K L Rahul.
Images from the IPL match played between Mumbai Indians and RCB in Mumbai on Monday
AB de Villiers will avoid putting extra stress on a hamstring injury by playing as a batsman only in the first Sri Lanka Test with Quinton de Kock taking over wicketkeeping duties, South Africa captain Hashim Amla said on Tuesday.
Faf du Plessis showed why he continues to be among the top-rated batters in T20 cricket at the D Y Patil stadium on Tuesday night.
England continued to hold the upper hand in the first Test against South Africa by taking a first innings lead of 97 and extending it to 216 by the close on the third day at Lord's on Saturday with nine wickets in hand.
The three-Test series begins in Visakhapatnam from October 2.
Bumrah said the team is still trying to be positive as they 'haven't lost everything in life'.
Finding form is only a matter of time as long as one remains confident about their abilities, said South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw after smashing a memorable hundred against India following two zeroes in the first two T20s in the just-concluded series.
Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant says his team needs to quickly sort out the 'pattern' of losing wickets in a bunch and play less dot balls in the middle overs to turn things around after suffering successive defeats in IPL 2022.
Replying to India's 497-9 declared, South Africa were all out for 162
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians will look to continue their winning streak in IPL 2021.
India captain Virat Kohli continued to top the ICC Test batsmen's ranking but his deputy Ajinkya Rahane slipped a place to ninth spot. Kohli has 928 points, 17 more than second-placed Australian run-machine Steve Smith, in the latest edition of the rankings released on Saturday.
'The main motive is adapting to the situations and demands of the team'
If it were not for Hooda's and Rahul's fighting 50s, LSG would not have had 169 to defend.
Jos Buttler is still the front-runner to be this IPL's MVP. He still has at least two matches to play and one big knock will win it for him. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players after the end of the 70 league matches in IPL 2022.
Images from the IPL 2020 opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, in Abu Dhabi, on Saturday.
Needing 16 off the final over, Pollard hit Ngidi for two fours, a six off the fifth and two off the last delivery to seal victory. 16 runs came from the over as Pollard was unbeaten on a memorable 87 off 34 balls.
Trent Boult was Mumbai Indians's hero with the ball in the IPL final against his former team Delhi Capitals, with a match-winning spell of 3-30.
Mumbai Indians will play a majority of its matches on the slow tracks of Abu Dhabi (8) and adapting to that challenge would be the key to its fortunes.
Royal Challengers Bangalore qualified for the play-offs of the Indian Premier League after their last league match against Delhi Daredevils was called off due to heavy rains.
MI are coming into the match after suffering back-to-back losses
K L Rahul and Deepak Hooda's half-century steered the Lucknow Giants to a six-run victory against the Delhi Capitals.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, in Delhi.
South Africa's pace bowlers laid the foundation for a crushing nine-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first Twenty20 international at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Captain Kieron Pollard impressed with bat and ball as West Indies defeated South Africa by 21 runs to level the five-match Twenty20 series at 2-2 on Thursday.
South Africa's left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took 2/13 in four overs as the tourists edged West Indies by one run in the third Twenty20 International to take a 2-1 series lead.
What makes these players such hot properties at the IPL Players Auction?
Batsmen Temba Bavuma and Keegan Petersen, left-arm seam bowler Beuran Hendricks, and all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo will join the team in Johannesburg on Wednesday
Mumbai Indians had roared back to form after thrashing RCB by five-wickets in the last game, there are problems aplenty for DC.
A batting line-up dotted with big power-hitters along with the best death bowlers make record five-time winners MI a formidable unit.
Mumbai Indians opener Quinton de Kock rued the lack of support for Hardik Pandya, whose incredible power-hitting kept Kolkata Knight Riders on tenterhooks till the final ball of the 18th over.
'South Africa have found a little sweet spot with David Warner'
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma says the upcoming T20I series against India will be an opportunity for him to identify players for specific roles for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia later this year.
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