South Africa completed a memorable 2-0 series sweep against India after off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed 6/37 to bowl the Proteas to a comprehensive 408-run victory in the second Test,
South African captain Temba Bavuma on Sunday said his game is built around an unshakeable defence, which stood him in good stead on a disintegrating Eden Gardens track, where 38 wickets fell inside eight sessions.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K L Rahul perished early as India fumbled in the chase of a mammoth 549-run target on Day 4 of the second Test.
How Mumbai Maidan coach Patwal's tough-love sessions gave Harmer his second wind
Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Mohamed Salah as midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored an 88th-minute penalty to give them a 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan.
'Jassi bhai just told me that the wicket-taking option was if you bowl at the stumps...'
South Africa's Aiden Markram created a new world record for the most catches by a fielder in a Test match, during the second Test against India in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Little-known ambidextrous Bengal spinner Kaushik Maity seamlessly doubled up for both roles during the optional practice session.
Spin great Harbhajan Singh said India don't have a specialist off-spinner for Test cricket.
Former players Irfan Pathan and Venkatesh Prasad have questioned the Indian team's muddled approach, lack of stability and the increasing reliance on all-rounders.
Armed with a potent spin attack, taking on South Africa seems like competing against a "subcontinent team", Ten Doeschate said, admitting that they need to get better at negotiating the challenge posed by tweakers.
Germany secured a place at next year's World Cup by crushing Slovakia 6-0 in their final qualifier on Monday.
India have long curated home tracks that accentuate turn, but the assumption their own batters would master such conditions no longer appears safe following their defeat in the opening Test against South Africa.
'Constant changes to the playing XI, batting orders, and frequent rotations prevent stability.'
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.
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.
On a surface offering little assistance for bowlers, South Africa's top order had frittered away starts but number seven Muthusamy marshalled a lower-order surge with a composed 109.
'You saw Yashasvi Jaiswal start in the second innings, did you see the first three balls, the kind of shots that he attempted?'
Daryl Mitchell becomes only the second player from New Zealand to hold the top the ICC ranking for ODI batters.
South Africa pulled off a sensational victory inside three days of the opening Test against India on Sunday and the manner of it would go a long way in silencing those who doubted their credentials as the reigning world test champions.
Marco Jansen picked 12 wickets in the two Tests at an average of 10.08 including a six-wicket haul in the first innings of the Guwahati Test, while Jasprit Bumrah managed eight wickets in the series.
The second and final Test starts in Guwahati from Saturday with India trailing 0-1 after the defeat on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
'When you are playing on spin-friendly pitches, you need to prepare differently.'
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.
'You don't come to a country to win a Test match, you obviously want to win the series.
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.
Eberechi Eze scored a majestic hat-trick as Arsenal trounced north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 to open up a commanding six-point lead.
Bayern beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 on Saturday to bag their 13th win from 13 matches across all competitions this season.
Gill stretchered out with neck injury; ''just bad timing'', says Morne Morkel
Shubman Gill might just want to be fit enough to bat, as even a half-fit skipper is seen as more effective than Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran or Sarfaraz Khan.
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.
Rohit Sharma followed up his knock of 73 in the second ODI in Adelaide with a match-winning unbeaten 121 in Sydney to be named the Player of the Series.
K L Rahul on Saturday conceded that Indian batters' repeated struggles against spin, especially on home tracks, remain a concern.
The Indian team management has not asked for a rank turner for the opening Test of the two-match series against South Africa beginning at the Eden Gardens on Friday, Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly said on Monday.
Jannik Sinner has decided not to take part in this year's Davis Cup Finals with reigning champions Italy confirming his absence in Monday's team announcement, while world number one Carlos Alcaraz will represent Spain at next month's competition.
On one of India's most challenging surfaces in recent memory -- a dry, unpredictable turning track where every ball felt like an event, Temba Bavuma played one of the defining innings of his career.
With the scars of last year's home series whitewash against New Zealand still raw, preparing rank turners may invite risk.
South Africa sharpen spin game in attacking net session ahead of Eden Test
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said their Test victory over hosts Pakistan in difficult conditions was a major confidence boost for the tourists, who will be heading to India next and expect an even sterner test.
The aura of home advantage -- long regarded as a hallmark of India's Test side -- seemed secure. But in barely over a year, that fortress has not just cracked, it has collapsed, raising uncomfortable questions about strategy, selection, and temperament.
