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.
Gautam Gambhir, India's head coach, may have expressed support for the Kolkata pitch, but it continues to draw criticism from all quarters.
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Abhishek Sharma shone with both bat and ball as Punjab hammered Puducherry by 54 runs in a Group C encounter of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy , in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
India's mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy retained his place among the world's top T20I bowlers, sitting just ahead of New Zealand's Jacob Duffy in the latest ICC Men's Rankings update.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and South Africa, in Kolkata, on Friday.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim praised Jasprit Bumrah's performance in the first India vs South Africa Test at Eden Gardens, saying Bumrah focuses only on what he can control and remains effective regardless of pitch conditions.
Recalling the special moment that broke the Internet, Rohit on Friday described it as a culmination of their emotions of 'doing everything together' for years.
The track is historically a high-scoring one and the outfield is quick. But on a red soil surface, the ball grips and can surprise the batters.
In keeping with workload management for frontline pacers, spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is also likely to be rested from the three-match ODI series, which carries little significance in the build-up to the T20 showpiece.
Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes said that Team India does not need to prepare turning wickets as they can bowl out their opponents with their pace line-up and having another spin-friendly wicket for the second Test against South Africa will be a "big test of their ability".
The World Cup winners' medal is the latest addition to Verma's trophy cabinet, which also includes the 2023 Under-19 World Cup, the 2022 Asia Cup, the 2022 Asian Games gold medal and the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver.
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Calling it "the destruction of Test cricket", former India spinner Harbhajan Singh says under-prepared and excessively bowler-friendly surfaces like the one used at Eden Gardens, prevent the genuine development of players.
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'When you are playing on spin-friendly pitches, you need to prepare differently.'
Domestic veterans Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar and Rinku Singh could keep the team management interested going forward in Test cricket.
Team India skipper Shubman Gill is unlikely to feature in the second Test against South Africa, with Cricket Association of Bengal sources confirming that he is not travelling to Guwahati with the team on Wednesday.
Babar has become just the fifth player from Pakistan to get to the milestone, joining the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Javed Miandad in the list.
'To see his preparation, the way he dominates the game.'
India captain Shubman Gill, head coach Gautam Gambhir along with Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel arrived in Kolkata late on Sunday ahead of the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa.
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Kuldeep Yadav compared the 22-yard strip at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati to a "road" due to the benign nature of the pitch.
Spin great Anil Kumble believes India can fight their way back into the second Test in Guwahati with a strong showing with the bat on the third and fourth days.
'I want to be conventional and also blend with out-of-box thinking. Want to have nice balance...'
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The series promises a fascinating duel between the two modern-day pace greats.
Saim Ayub scored 77 from 70 balls as Pakistan eased to a seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the third and final One-day International in Faisalabad on Saturday to clinch the series 2-1.
'Some players will feel comfortable with a former player. Some players will be comfortable with a coach that's never played the game before but he's got a lot of years of experience of coaching the game.'
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'You have a lot of options if you want to see. You can remove Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill and you can open with Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad...'
South Africa's experienced pacer Kagiso Rabada said their young team are ready for the challenge.
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For the first time in many years, India are going into a home Test match as underdogs and not favourites. Ask any player worth his salt and he would tell that it is not a happy place to be.
South Africa are the World Test champions and skipper Temba Bavuma wants them to play like it and prove their credentials in the two-Test series against India beginning on Friday.
Sourav Ganguly believes India's biggest selection dilemma ahead of the upcoming Test series against South Africa could centre around one man - Dhruv Jurel.
Jakarta overtakes Tokyo to become the most heavily-populated city in the world, with 42 million inhabitants, according to a November 2025 UN report on megacities.
Asked about losing yet another toss, Gill quipped, 'I think the only toss that I'm going to win is hopefully in the WTC finals.'
After getting retained by UP Warriorz for Rs 3.2 crore (Rs 32 million) ahead of the upcoming Women's Premier League, star Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma said there is no pressure of the price tag on her and, if anything, it motivates her to do well in the fourth edition of the tournament.
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels the debate over preparing a spin-friendly track at the Eden Gardens for the opening Test against South Africa is pointless as the country has been laying out such wickets for ages.
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