South Africa paceman Vernon Philander will miss the first two Tests against England because of injury, team officials said as the squad returned from their 3-0 hiding in India.
South Africa do not deserve to go into next year's World Cup with a reputation for choking, fast bowler Dale Steyn told Reuters on Thursday.
Experienced South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis will not be able to bowl in the first Test against England, captain Graeme Smith said on Tuesday.
He is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of the modern era. Extreme pace with the ability to swing the ball both ways makes Dale Steyn a complete pacer. The South African speedster reflects on his 11-year old career at the international stage. How did the dream of playing cricket begin for you and when did it start taking shape? I was about 10 or so when I first came in contact with cricket. I was visiting my family in Zimbabwe and played the game in the backyard. And I remember when I got back to school after the vacations in January, everyone seemed to be playing this crazy sport called cricket. I joined the party and since then there has been no looking back. Why fast bowling? I did everything when I was growing up. I was an opening batter in primary school, but fast bowling was one thing that I was always better at than anybody else. I started playing Men's club cricket at a very young age. I was like this little 14-year old playing against full grown men who were 25 years and upwards. You know, you start to get this confidence that you can get grown men out. Your own teammates fill you up with a lot of confidence when they see you get a great batsman out. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Northern Titan Cricket Academy. This was the same time when the 2003 World Cup was on and I got a chance to bowl to all the international pros who came for practice, made them jump around a little bit and built confidence from there.
Following is the list of players who have been released by the different franchises ahead of the auction for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.
South Africa look certain to wrap up a 2-0 series win after reducing West Indies to 134 for seven on the third day of the third and final Test in Barbados on Monday.
South Africa took control of the first Test against West Indies on Saturday after pacemen Dale Steyn, who reached 200 Test wickets, and Morne Morkel had skittled the hosts for 102 on the third day. South Africa, with a first innings lead of 250, declined to enforce the follow-on and extended their lead by reaching 155 for two at the close at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad.
Firebrand fast bowler Dale Steyn will seek to become South Africa's greatest wicket-taker in Tests when they take on Pakistan in the first match of a three-game series at Centurion Park in Pretoria on Wednesday.
South Africa, who lost to England and Bangladesh, are looking for their first win of the tournament on Wednesday against India who are ranked second in the world.
Lungi Ngidi ruled out for 'at least a week to 10 days'; Amla recovering well
England, with a series win already secured, can complete South Africa's ignominious fall from the top of the rankings when the final Test of the four-match series starts at Centurion Park in Pretoria on Friday.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Nagpur, on Monday.
Images from Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challenegrs Bangalore, on Saturday
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bangalore on Thursday.
South Africa's team manager defended fast bowler Dale Steyn on Tuesday, saying the player had shown elevated levels of morphine in a random drugs test in April because of medication he was taking for migraines. Mohammed Moosajee, the team's manager and doctor, expects the "routine matter" to be cleared up quickly.
Harbhajan Singh, with three wickets in England's innings, took his tally of wickets this year to 58. Only South Africa's Dale Steyn (60) has claimed more wickets than Harbhajan in 2008.
Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara has regained the number one ranking among Test batsmen after scoring 130 not out on Friday to help draw the final test against Pakistan in Colombo.
Stylish South African middle order batsman Abraham de Villiers and fast bowler Dale Steyn will figure in their country's domestic Twenty20 champions Titans' squad in next month's Champions League Twenty20, to be held in three cities in India. Titans, also with Test left-arm spinner Paul Harris and pace bowler Morne Morkel in their ranks, will start their campaign with a match against Middlesex, the England Twenty20 domestic champions, in Chennai on December 5.
A change from spin-friendly wickets in India to ones favouring seamers means South Africa's pace attack are keenly looking forward to the Test series against England, which starts on Saturday.
After escaping with a narrow win in Jaipur, India would aim to plug their bowling loopholes and seal the three-match series to retain the number two spot in ICC rankings when they take on South Africa in the second ODI in Gwalior on Wednesday.
India retained the No 1 spot in the latest Reliance ODI team rankings while Virat Kohli maintained the number two position with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni static at the seventh place in the batting chart released in Dubai.
India are still 259 runs behind South Africa's imposing first innings of 558 for six declared, with Murali Vijay (27 not out) and Sachin Tendulkar (15 not out) at the crease. Can the pair stay put at the crease? Will India be able to stave off defeat? India Abroad's Bikash Mohapatra is at the ground posting updates as they happen. Follow what's the latest from the Test on Bikash's MyPage!
Dale Steyn, who picked a career-best figures of seven for 51 on Monday, said the reverse swing came to his aid and pitching the ball up paid rich dividends.
Batsman AB de Villiers will return to the role of wicketkeeper for South Africa in the opening two Tests of their four-match home series against England starting in Durban on Boxing Day.
Steyn, Nigidi still doubtful
South Africa won the fourth and final Test by an innings and 74 runs on Sunday, bowling England out for 169 just before lunch on the fourth day at the Wanderers to level the series at 1-1.
South Africa moved into a strong position to win the third Test and level the series after England, chasing an unlikely 466 to win, were reduced to 132 for three at the close on the fourth day at Newlands on Wednesday.
England, replying to South Africa's 291, were 241 for seven at close on the second day of the third Test thanks to battling innings by Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Matt Prior.
Jacques Kallis defied England with another composed century to lift South Africa to 279 for six on the first day of the third Test on Sunday.
Former pacer Fanie de Villiers has slammed South African selectors for including "half-fit" bowlers in the national side that suffered an ignominious defeat to the visiting Englishmen in the second Test in Durban earlier this week.
On a night of mixed fortune for Indian cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named the ODI Player of the Year, Yuvraj Singh won the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year Award but pacer Ishant Sharma failed to win the Emerging Player honour at the annual ICC awards function in Dubai.
Former Australian tear-away pacer Rodney Hogg, says why India don't have a chance to retain the World Cup.
South Africa crushed Australia by seven wickets to level the five-match one-day international series at 1-1 on Sunday. Australia's comprehensive defeat stemmed from a poor batting display with 19-year-old left-arm swing bowler Wayne Parnell claiming career-best figures to help bundle the touring side out for just 131.
South African pacer Morne Morkel believes his and Dale Steyn's exploit with the new bowl on the first day of the opening Test would have repercussions on the rest of the three-match series and also send a good message to the Indian camp.
A century stand between skipper Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Michael Clarke kept Australia afloat as they reached 194 for five at tea on the first day of the first Test against South Africa Thursday.
India fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat claimed a Rs 11.5 crore deal with the usually thrifty Rajasthan Royals even as South African pace ace Dale Steyn went unsold on the second day of the Indian Premier players' auction in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Peter Siddle took three wickets to give Australia the upperhand as South Africa were reduced to 198 for seven at stumps on day two of the second Test at the MCG in Melbourne on Saturday. Captain Graeme Smith scored a fine 62 but kept losing wickets at regular intervals in reply to Australia's first innings score of 394.
Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has picked Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar as the toughest bowler he has faced in his illustrious international career.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn claimed four wickets for 16 runs in eight overs to help steer South Africa to victory by 61 runs in the first one-day international against Bangladesh on Friday.
With India being outplayed in the Twenty20s, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will face added pressure to perform and lead India from the front against a formidable South African unit in the five-match ODI cricket series starting in Kanpur on Sunday.
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