Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
'They have proved that in the Test series and they are a quality team. So I expect the same (challenge and intensity) in the ODIs coming up'
India have never won an ODI series in South Africa, having lost 5-2 in 1992-93, 4-0 in 2006- 07, 3-2 in 2010-11 and 2-0 in 2013-14.
South Africa have named fast bowler Dale Steyn in their 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 in India next month, but will ask him to prove his fitness following a debilitating shoulder injury.
Former Australia left-arm spinner Brad Hogg has said India, with three consecutive wins so far, have gotten over the setback of their disappointing Australia tour that preceded the World Cup.
India Test skipper Virat Kohli was among the few cricketers who received a higher actual salary according to the salary details of the retained Indian Premier League players listed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Friday.
Glenn Maxwell produced yet another blazing innings with the bat before Lakshmipathy Balaji returned a four-wicket haul as Kings XI Punjab registered a crushing 72-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Russell was on three off five balls when he was bowled by Mohammed Shami with an inch-perfect yorker on off-stump but it was declared a no ball because the side had three fielders, instead of the mandatory four, inside the circle in the 17th over.
Andre Russell's second consecutive blistering knock made all the difference as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Kings XI Punjab by 28 runs in the IPL match IN Kolkata on Wednesday. The Jamacian, who hit a sensational 19-ball 49 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in KKR's previous match, bludgeoned his way to a 17-ball 48 to propel the home side to a massive 218 for 4 after being sent in to bat.
After Stokes's heroics with the bat had helped England score 330 for six in their 50 overs, South Africa needed 10 runs from the last 10 balls of their innings with five wickets remaining, but an excellent final over from Wood that cost just four runs sealed victory.
Right from the moment England captain Alastair Cook won the toss, his team did no wrong. The hosts humiliated South Africa as they handed them a crushing seven-wicket-defeat with 75 balls to spare in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy, in London, on Wednesday.
South Africa are to gamble on the fitness of Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, who were named on Wednesday in a 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next month.
Three consecutive defeats have more or less sealed their fate and for things to turn around for the Royals, every aspect of their game needs to improve and click for them.
Kings XI Punjab will be looking to get their campaign back on track after a couple of defeats when they lock horns with bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in Indore on Sunday.
Pakistan won a bilateral one-day international series against South Africa for the first time when they claimed a one-run victory in a thrilling finale in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.
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.
Desperate to get their campaigns back on track, the two bottom placed teams in the Indian Premier League -- Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- lock horns in Mohali on Monday, aiming to keep their winning momentum going to stay afloat in the ninth edition of the T20 league.
Kolkata Knight Riders are back in familiar home conditions but can ill-afford to take Kings XI Punjab lightly, who are showing signs of improvement under a newly-appointed skipper, when the two teams clash in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
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.
Trent Boult took the prized wicket of AB de Villiers then bowled Dwaine Pretorious in the penultimate over as New Zealand secured a series-levelling six-run victory in the second One-day international against South Africa on Wednesday.
Bruised and battered by Chris Gayle's mauling on Wednesday, England are faced with a must-win situation as they look for ways to contain South Africa in their ICC World Twenty20 match in Mumbai on Friday.
'Experience is the key. There are basically two ways to read leg-break bowling. Either you pick up from the wrists or wait for the ball to pitch. No two batsmen would employ the same technique'
Images from Monday's IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab, in Hyderabad.
IMAGES from the 3rd T20I played between India and South Africa in Newlands, Cape Town on Saturday
Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Sreenath Aravind, who took four wickets against Kings XI Punjab, has credited senior fast bowler Mitchell Starc for teaching him the tricks of the trade.
South African batting coach Dale Benkenstein conceded that their batsmen have been unable to read Indian wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav during the ongoing ODI series as it is taking time to get adjusted to their change-ups.
India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may be back in the mix after being dropped in the first two games and South Africa batting coach Neil McKenzie feels that the tweaker would be a preferred choice against his team.
An explosive unbeaten 85 from David Miller and some hostile bowling by the fast bowlers helped South Africa to beat Sri Lanka by 56 runs in Pallekele on Friday and stay alive in the five-match series.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in Mumbai on Wednesday.
A total of 62 players were sold at the auction for the 13th edition with the eight franchises spending a total of 1.403 billion rupees ($19.73 million). Australia's Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas buy ever in the Indian Premier League when the Kolkata Knight Riders paid a staggering Rs 15.50 crore ($2.18 million) for the fast bowler in Thursday's auction in Kolkata on Thursday.
Factbox on the cricket World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni single-handedly scripted Rising Pune Supergiants' face-saving four-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab with a last-ball six to help them avoid the bottom-place finish in the Indian Premier League in Visakhapatnam, on Saturday.
Back to their winning ways after sucessive victories, a rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to continue their good run when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab in an IPL T20 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.
Murali Vijay's captain knock went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore snatched a nerve-wracking one-run win victory over Kings XI Punjab in an enthralling Indian Premier League encounter, in Mohali, on Monday.
A glamour-filled opening ceremony, featuring Bollywood personalities and all-girl English pop band TBC, performed for the Season 9 of the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Friday.
Kings XI Punjab face the uphill task of not only pulling the rug from under the feet of formidable Chennai Super Kings but also boosting their net run-rate in the last IPL round-robin match to salvage hopes of sneaking into the play-offs.
David Warner and Glenn Maxwell shared the fourth highest partnership in the history of T20 International cricket to set Australia up for a last-ball, five-wicket victory over South Africa in the second T20 International at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. The series is now locked 1-1 ahead of the decider in Cape Town on Wednesday. Warner (77 off 40 balls, 6 fours and 5 sixes) and Maxwell (75 off 43 balls, 7 fours and 3 sixes) shared a partnership of 161 which was Australia's highest ever and also the highest ever for the fourth wicket and the highest for any wicket at the Wanderers.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and a transformed Kings XI Punjab cross swords in an Indian Premier League contest in which big-hitting Jamaicans Andre Russell and Chris Gayle will be up against each other in Kolkata on Saturday.
The unbeaten streak of table-toppers Surisers Hyderabad would be up for a test when they take on third-placed Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League contest, in Mohali, on Thursday.