Former India captain Rahul Dravid feels the Virat Kohli-led team has a 'great chance' of winning a maiden Test series in South Africa next month given the depth of talent in the side.
They have been badly handicapped by injuries to their captain Graeme Smith and all rounder Jacques Kallis.
Injured West Indies captain Chris Gayle is out of the deciding third Test against South Africa, the touring team said on Monday.
India's bowling coach Morne Morkel has indicated that the team management will continue to back openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, despite the impressive performance of teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Morkel stressed the importance of showing faith in established players who have performed well previously, while also acknowledging the excitement around new talents like Sooryavanshi and pacer Prince Yadav.
India have rested Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya from the Ireland and England tours as selectors prioritise the pacer's role in the World Test Championship and Pandya's importance to India's ODI World Cup plans.
South Africa coach Mark Boucher says his side is using those to work on a new approach he hopes will reverse a slide in fortunes across all three formats for the side.
Australia batsman Usman Khawaja could find himself opening against South Africa's formidable pace attack in the first Test in Perth on November 3, just months after being dropped during a poor tour of Sri Lanka.
India 'A' will play a one-day tri-series involving Australia 'A' and South Africa 'A' followed by two four-day matches against the hosts.
Australia's three-match series in South Africa will finalise their World T20 preparations.
Rohit scored 212 and Ajinkya Rahane contributed 115 as India declared their first innings at 497 for 9. South Africa are 9 for 2 at close of play.
Faf du Plessis said, "Now we can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said his side was vastly improved since they last toured Australia and are ready to put the world's top side under pressure in their three-Test series starting next month.
Steyn replied to a tweet from a user who pointed out that Chris Morris was not named in the squad as he made himself unavailable for the T20I series.
Captain Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers led the chase as South Africa cut the deficit to 102 runs in their bid to haul in the West Indies total of 329 before rain ended the second day of the third Test at Newlands on Saturday.
Quinton de Kock has reversed his retirement from ODI cricket and has been named in both the ODI and T20I squads for the Pakistan tour.
Allan Donald has stepped down as bowling coach of South Africa, confirming his departure.
India will look to crush a South African revival before it becomes a threat to their pursuit of a maiden ODI series triumph here when the two sides clash in the fifth one-dayer, on Tuesday.
Sourav Ganguly advised against placing excessive expectations on 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying the youngster should be given time to settle into international cricket.
Dean Elgar's century and a quick-fire unbeaten 68 from Quinton de Kock lifted South Africa to 297 for six on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Monday.
South Africa play three ODIs against England, starting at the weekend, following on three Twenty20 Internationals.
South Africa have slipped to number six in the world, behind fifth-placed Sri Lanka, and have a host of questions to answer, not least around a brittle top six and the balance of the side.
Yastika Bhatia scripted history by becoming the first woman to score a Test century at Lord's. Here's the inspiring story of her journey from Baroda prodigy and ACL injury comeback to India's latest cricket hero.
Kane Williamson will get another chance to prove his leadership credentials after being named New Zealand captain for limited overs series.
Sri Lanka off-spinner Dilruwan Perera took six wickets in the second innings for a match-haul of 10, as the hosts registered a thumping 278-run win over South Africa inside three days of the opening Test on Saturday.
South Africa captain Hashim Amla hailed his team's uncharacteristically dogged batting in the fourth and final test against India even though it was not enough to avert their third loss in the four-match series. Set a daunting 481-run victory target, South Africa resorted to extraordinary stone-walling at Feroz Shah Kotla, blocking over after over in their desperate bid to prolong the contest.
South Africa remains one of the very few places where India have not won a Test series, and the Virat Kohli-led side is determined to end the wait this time around.
The all-rounder captained South Africa at the age of 42 on their historic post-isolation limited overs tour of India in 1991, but was then controversially left out of the squad for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following year.
Uncapped opening batsman Jeet Raval has been named in New Zealand's Test squad for their tour of southern Africa in August, New Zealand Cricket said on Friday.
South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada said his team will look to use the past experience of playing in the sub-continent when they take on India in the upcoming assignments.
South Africa's most experienced spinner Keshav Maharaj wants to be as consistent as the seasoned Indian duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin during the upcoming three-Test series.
England proved devastating with both bat and ball on Saturday as they scored 400 runs in their first innings and then reduced sorry South Africa to 88 for six wickets at the close of play on the second day of the fourth Test at The Wanderers. Images from Day 2 of the 4th Test played between South Africa and England in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Duanne Olivier exploded on to the Test scene four years ago and took 48 wickets in 10 Tests, at an average below 20, but then took up a Kolpak contract with English county Yorkshire that meant he was lost to South African cricket.
At 31, it would be too early and unwise to phase out a special talent like Sanju Samson, who despite the odd blip appears to be enjoying the best phase of his India career.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi said he wants India to send their team for the Asian Cricket Council's Emerging Nations Cup to be held in Pakistan next April.
They said the decision to abort their tour of Sri Lanka is fully justified after a bomb blast close to the hotel they were staying in.
Walter, who led South Africa to the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup and final of last year's Twenty20 World Cup, is contracted through to the end of the 2028 World Cup, which New Zealand is co-hosting with Australia.
Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, and Hitaashee Bakshi of India experienced a difficult final round at the MCB Ladies Classic in Mauritius, causing them to fall in the leaderboard. Denmark's Smilla Tarning Soenderby won the tournament.
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.
