England ended a well contested first day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa on 260 for six with the late loss of Ben Stokes giving heart to the tourists.
Ashwin moves into top-10, Dhawan in career-high 32nd spot in the latest ICC Test rankings
Unceremoniously dethroned as the world's top-ranked Test team, an embarrassed South Africa are in a race against time to find answers to their steady decline before they begin the final Test against England on Friday.
Handicapped by the absence of key strike bowler Dale Steyn, South Africa will need to dig deep into their reserves if they are to beat England in the third Test and bring parity to the series.
Ben Stokes struck a sparkling unbeaten 74 to help England finish the opening day of the second Test against South Africa on a healthy 317 for five at Newlands on Saturday.
Dean Elgar doubts Australia can keep up their 'docile' approach to Test cricket as the tourists slip towards a heavy defeat and a series loss in the fourth and final Test at the Wanderers.
All-rounders Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell were named in South Africa's 15-man squad on Wednesday for the three-match Test series against Australia starting on February 12.
Indian cricket team stands a chance of making big gains in terms of International Cricket Council (ICC) Test ranking if they manage to register a 3-1 victory over Australia in their ongoing four-match series.
England debutant Toby Roland-Jones wreaked havoc as he picked four wickets to have South Africa reeling at 126 for 8 at stumps on Day 2 of the third Test at the Oval on Friday.
A career-best 119 from Virat Kohli lifted India to a respectable 255 for five at the close on an even opening day of the first Test against South Africa at the Wanderers on Wednesday.
Buttler was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point after swearing repeatedly at South Africa all-rounder Vernon Philander
New England captain Joe Root rode his luck to make a battling unbeaten 184 and lift the hosts to a commanding 357 for five on the opening day of the first Test against South Africa at Lord's in London on Thursday.
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc produced high-quality reverse-swing to claim five wickets against South Africa as the tourists seized control of the first Test with a first innings lead of 189 at the close on the second day.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 2nd Test played at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Standing in as skipper for the injured AB de Villiers and without pace spearhead Dale Steyn for all but a day and a half of the campaign, the 32-year-old batsman delivered a 2-1 series triumph that sent Australia plummeting into crisis.
The vagaries of the World Cup draw may have helped Pakistan rediscover their swagger at just the right time to push them to the brink of a quarter-final, according to captain Misbah ul-Haq.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers led from the front with an all-round show to help South Africa thrash minnows UAE.
South Africa lost the wicket of opener Alviro Petersen for a duck as they chased 369 runs for victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock struck commanding hundreds to author South Africa's spectacular fightback before Ravichandran Ashwin wrested back India's control with a five-wicket haul on the third day of the opening Test.
South Africa removed the West Indian openers in Sunday's last session at Newlands to build on AB de Villiers' superb century and take the initiative in the final Test.
England must chase down a world-record 474 to win the second Test while South Africa have two full days to bowl them out after the tourists' batsmen provided the strongest possible platform for victory on the third day in Nottingham on Sunday.
South Africa batted cautiously to reach 98 for three as they try to preserve their 1-0 lead in the series in the second Test and final against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Virat Kohli and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara held on to their second and seventh position respectively
Seamer Morne Morkel claimed his 300th career wicket as South Africa edged ahead in the third Test on Friday when they reduced Australia to 245 for nine at the close on the second day, still 66 runs behind their hosts' first innings score at Newlands.
The home side have a narrow advantage of 20 runs with the brilliant De Villiers on 74 from 81 balls and all-rounder Vernon Philander to resume on 14 in the search for what could be crucial first innings runs in an engrossing contest.
Australia moved one wicket from victory in the first Test against South Africa on Sunday after Mitchell Starc's swing bowling decimated the hosts' lower order and dampened their hopes of an unlikely recovery.
South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, on Wednesday, said it was important to find runs on a bowling friendly pitch like the one used for the third Test against India in Johannesburg.
South African pacer Lungi Ngidi on Wednesday said that dismissing Virat Kohli, one of the world's best batsmen, in India's second innings of the second Test in Pretoria was a special moment.
South Africa built a sizeable second-innings lead after reaching 65 for two against India at the close on day two of the opening Test at Newlands on Saturday but were sweating over another potential injury blow for experienced seamer Dale Steyn.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers' chart of the ICC Test rankings.
PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi is in the UK meeting with the British legal firm for advise. PCB's chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad has also flown to London for the same purpose.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly opined that he was confident of an Indian victory after the team crossed the 250-run barrier.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers will turn to his senior players to help lift the team out of the doldrums after they suffered a 'big knock' to their confidence.
The win was England's first against South Africa at Lord's since 1960.
For the first time in a decade, South Africa have been forced to acknowledge they are on the decline following back-to-back series losses to India and England that have knocked them off the top of the Test rankings.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami picked up a five-wicket haul while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four in South Africa's second innings to hand India a convincing 203-run victory, in the opening Test.
'I was prepared for the past two years. At some stage, I was aware that I might have to open so I was ready'
AB de Villiers' masterly 85 in his 100th test could not gloss over South Africa's spin frailty as India took charge of the second Test after dominating the opening day at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Rajneesh Gupta throws up all the numbers from Test encounters between India and South Africa.
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