Gill may miss ODI series due to unhealed neck injury; Rahul, Pant in line for ODI captaincy
Virat Kohli has two hundreds and a fifty in his last three innings, while Rohit Sharma has a hundred and two fifties in his last four outings.
South Africa A humble India A by 73 runs to avoid series whitewash
The series promises a fascinating duel between the two modern-day pace greats.
Shami, 35, was left out of India's 15-member squad for the two home Tests against South Africa, scheduled to commence on Friday at the famed Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Before his most recent snub, Shami had openly expressed his disappointment about being sidelined from India's recent Test fixtures.
'You don't come to a country to win a Test match, you obviously want to win the series.
Sourav Ganguly believes India's biggest selection dilemma ahead of the upcoming Test series against South Africa could centre around one man - Dhruv Jurel.
Ravindra Jadeja said the looming series defeat to South Africa will have no bearing on India's next Test assignment in Sri Lanka in August next year.
Abhimanyu Easwaran made the future path all the more tough with his second duck of the match, while Sai Sudharsan concluded his lukewarm preparation for the South Africa Test series with an underwhelming 23 off 38 balls.
Wolvaardt played eight ODIs in October at the Women's World Cup, amassing 470 runs at a stunning average of 67.14 and an impressive strike rate of 97.91.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt scored a hundred for the ages before the seasoned Marizanne Kapp made the ball talk in good batting conditions to script a 125-run victory over England and enter their maiden Women's ODI Cup final, in Guwahati, on Wednesday.
South African captain Temba Bavuma mixed grit with humour after his team's shock win over India in Kolkata, celebrating his hard-fought fifty and the "small hands" catch that turned the match on its head.
Conversations might have been different if Pant got his execution right: Jansen
Veteran allrounder Marizanne Kapp excelled with both bat and ball, while skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus also smashed fine half-centuries as South Africa defeated Pakistan by 150 runs (DLS Method) in a rain-affected Women's World Cup match to go top of the table, in Colombo, on Tuesday.
With Bumrah leading the charge, India prised out five wickets in the second session to snuff out South Africa's hopes of reaching the 200 mark.
Not handing the ball to lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah to start the third day's play on a challenging Eden Gardens surface was "questionable", said the legendary Anil Kumble.
After a forgettable debut series in India in 2019, Senuran Muthusamy had to wait for four years to get another chance in Test cricket.
The positive result came from a second round of testing conducted ahead of the series, South Africa's first international cricket for eight months.
India's strategy of playing two fast bowlers, one pace bowling all-rounder, and three spinners could possibly come in handy on this surface.
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma's superb all-round showing powered India to a historic first-ever Women's ODI World Cup title after they outclassed South Africa by 52 runs in the final.
Matthew Breetzke became the first player to score half centuries in each of his first five One-Day International appearances as South Africa beat England by five runs in the second ODI at Lord's on Thursday.
Vice-captain Rishabh Pant said India's batters should have adapted to the challenge of playing on a tricky pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Deepti Sharma, the World Cup's leading wicket-taker who took a magnificent 5/39 in the final, is joined by teammates Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues in World Cup's Team of the Tournament.
This was India's fourth defeat in the last six Tests at home and in all four Tests -- including three against New Zealand -- their batters have flopped against spin.
Having played the most defining knock of her career to ensure South Africa's maiden entry into Women's ODI World Cup final, skipper Laura Wolvaardt found the feeling to be surreal.
South Africa sharpen spin game in attacking net session ahead of Eden Test
South Africa coach Shukri Conrad was overwhelmed to see his spinners rule the roost in the first Test against India at the Eden Gardens, signalling to him that the Rainbow Nation is no longer an exclusive "fast bowling country" and hoped that a lot more slow bowlers will emerge.
Pant took a bit to settle into his rhythm behind the stumps, and once he came to terms with the surface and bowlers the wicketkeeper was quite tidy.
Pakistan collapsed from 362-5 to 378 all out as Muthusamy finished with Test best figures of 6-117.
After bowling out SA A for 309, overnight 299/9, in the first session, India succumbed to their own waywardness, and the relentlessness of off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen (5/61), to concede an innings lead of 75.
Countering Bumrah before spinners come into play will be key for SA: Graeme Smith
Deepti jumps two places to 5th, Mandhana continues to hold top spot in ODI rankings
Sack Gambhir before he damages any more careers, if you must. But it cannot stop there. The project ahead must be bigger, more ambitious, and far more urgent: Rebuilding the spine of Indian cricket from the grassroots up, and giving the Test team the seriousness it deserves. Only then will Indian cricket stop lurching from one crisis to another and begin, once again, to imagine greatness, suggests Prem Panicker.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will be playing an ODI World Cup final for the third time, having finished runners-up in 2005 and 2017 to Australia and England, respectively. This will be South Africa's maiden appearance in the final.
India A skipper Rishabh Pant will look to build on the gains from the first match, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav will aim for crucial red-ball game time in the second four-day match against a Temba Bavuma-led South Africa A in Bengaluru from Thursday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 2nd Test between India and West Indies in New Delhi on Sunday.
South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt said that once their Women's World Cup contest against Sri Lanka was reduced to 20 overs a side, she treated it like a T20 game and came out to bat with the same mindset, in Colombo, on Friday.
Conrad conceded that South Africa were a "batter light" but explained that if the players they have were willing to play with a little more self-confidence, it could work in Proteas' favour.
The Aussies also named a 14-player group for the first two T20I matches against India, with Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis earning recalls after they missed the recent T20I series with South Africa.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances