Mohammed Shami led India's fight-back with a career-best five-wicket haul as India snapped nine wickets for 53 runs to dismiss South Africa for 177 and avoid a humiliating whitewash in the three-match series.
Some strong performances with the bat will help Joe Root to surge to the top and then potentially strengthen his position in the four-Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 14 July.
In terms of days, Dale Steyn has spent 2,320 days at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, the most by any bowler since World War II.
Virat Kohli achieved another personal milestone by becoming the seventh India batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to top the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
For a visiting cricketer, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relentless spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-test series starting on Thursday.
Factbox on major ball-tampering incidents in cricket
Praising his players for the emphatic win over South Africa in the World Cup, team director Ravi Shastri said the management's decision to stick with Shikhar Dhawan, despite his poor form in the run-up to the showpiece event, proved right.
All-rounder Andre Russell smashed a match-winning half-century as West Indies claimed a nail-biting one-wicket victory over South Africa in the fourth one-day international at St George's Park on Sunday.
'I am sitting here with a smile on my face knowing there is one less very competitive, very talented guy that we don't have to deal with'
South Africa captain Hashim Amla remained unbeaten after his 22nd Test hundred but off-spinner Dilruwan Perera's career best figures gave Sri Lanka a big first innings lead at the end of the third day of the second Test on Saturday.
South Africa coach Russell Domingo says India have a seriously good batting line-up and it's not the Proteas' style to target one individual player.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between India and South Africa in Mohali, on Friday.
In the 35 Tests Kohli has led as captain, he has fielded 35 different playing 11s. Sure, the chopping and changing worked in the sub-continent because the home conditions masked the deficiencies in constantly chopping and changing the playing 11, says Chetan Narula.
Perhaps for the first time, India's pace strength is not centred on any one individual, or set of individuals.
Former all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar on Saturday slammed India's team selection in the ongoing Test series against South Africa, saying it is a shame to pick players for a Test match based on their form in limited overs cricket.
India might have wasted the advantage of winning the toss after being bundled out for a paltry 201 against South Africa, on Thursday, but batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels the hosts' first innings total is 'much bigger' than it looks on a slow and low pitch.
India aim to stay afloat against daunting South Africa in the second Test
Former captain Graeme Smith feels South Africa's 'powerful' bowling attack will put the Indian batting line-up under serious pressure in the upcoming Test series, starting January 5 in Cape Town.
Both teams will hope to banish some unwanted baggage that has dogged them for years.
Openers Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen weathered a difficult 45 minutes to take South Africa to tea at 38 without loss chasing an unlikely victory target of 458 on the fourth day of the first Test against India at the Wanderers on Saturday.
Injured South Africa pacer Dale Steyn bowled for a short while in the nets, raising hopes of him being included in the playing XI in the third Test against India in Nagpur, but his fast bowling partner Morne Morkel said the team is keeping its fingers crossed.
'I try to play my best and put India in a good position.'
Dismissing the notion that the Mohali pitch was a vicious turner, South Africa captain Hashim Amla on Saturday said most dismissals in the opening Test match was due to lack of spin rather than excess of it. He also came down hard on his batsmen, saying they could have applied themselves better.
The Proteas are working overtime to devise a strategy to get the better of the right-hander and they believe the best way to dismiss Rohit is to get him early before he gets his eye in.
South Africa will head to India armed with three frontline slow bowlers in their Test squad after recalling leg-spinner Imran Tahir and off-break bowler Dane Piedt for the four-match series starting in November.
Factbox on the cricket World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland.
Virat Kohli, on Tuesday, said performance of the pacers has been a big boost for the team and hinted at employing an all-seam attack against South Africa on a typical green Wanderers track in the third cricket Test in Johannesburg.
Kagiso Rabada said South Africa are gunning for a whitewash of India, having trampled the visitors in the first two matches.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Saturday said he always feared being labelled as a player who excels only in domestic cricket and desperately wants success at international level.
Faced with the prospect of a humiliating 0-3 series whitewash, a desperate India would be aiming to bounce back to winning ways against an unrelenting South Africa in the third and final Test, starting in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Former South African fast bowler Fanie De Villiers has praised Mohammed Shami as India's best Test bowler and added that the Proteas could easily fit him in their highly-competitive pace attack.
'It's Test cricket and (Shannon) is an emotional guy trying to do everything he can to win a Test match. Sometimes people say things on the field that they might regret'
'On Sunday against South Africa, Shikhar Dhawan took the spotlight and eventually, the Man of the Match award, with a century, but it was Ajinkya Rahane's innings that held the key to India topping the 300 mark.' Prem Panicker's match report card, for Rediff.com.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com explains why skipper Virat Kohli is backing his opening batsman to carry on the good form in the next two Tests of the series.
AB is a cricketer like none other, says Dhruv Munjal, adored by Indian fans just as they did Sachin Tendulkar. 'His name chanted by thousands of otherwise ridiculously partisan fans at stadiums across India.'
Dale Steyn claimed six for 100 to bowl out India for 334 in their first innings. In reply, South Africa got off to a positive start, scoring 82 for no loss, at stumps on the rain-hit second day in Durban, on Friday.
Set a stiff target of 458 for victory, the hosts rode on centuries from Faf du Plessis (134) and AB de Villiers (103) but failed to pull off a sensational victory, falling short by a narrow margin of eight runs.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between India and South Africa in Mohali, on Saturday.
After condemning Steve Smith's conduct during the Cape Town Test on Sunday, Shane Warne struck a more supportive tone on Wednesday.
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