Australia took firm control of the day-night third Test on Saturday when they reduced South Africa to 194 for six at the close on day three, only 70 runs ahead of their hosts.
India captain Virat Kohli shot up 10 slots to reach a career-high fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after producing a man of the match performance in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
South Africa retained the iconic Reliance ICC Test Championship mace and with it won a cash award of $500,000 following its 2-0 series win over the West Indies in Cape Town on Tuesday.
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.
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.
Outwitted in both the T20 and the ODI series, India will seek redemption in the Test format by trying to spin a web around the formidable South Africans in the four-match series starting in Mohali, on Thursday.
South Africa won the fifth One-Day International against India by 214 runs on Sunday, to win the five-match series 3-1, their first ODI series win on Indian soil. Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from the match played in Mumbai.
Vernon Philander is enjoying being "mentor" in the twilight of his career and wants more of his contemporaries to give back to the game instead of looking for "greener pastures".
Opening batsman Quinton de Kock provided the early flourish with the bat with his seventh century while fast bowler Morne Morkel applied the finishing touch with four wickets as South Africa beat India by 18 runs on Sunday to take a 2-1 series lead in Rajkot, on Sunday.
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.
South Africa's Temba Bavuma was left stranded on 95 not out as they tightened their grip over scandal-hit Australia after reducing the hapless visitors to 110 for six at the close on the second day of the fourth and final Test on Saturday.
South Africa won their first game at the World Cup, beating Afghanistan by nine wickets (DLS). Imran Tahir finished with figures of 4 for 29, the best figures by a spinner in the tournament so
Chris Gayle will return to the top of the batting order as West Indies look to continue their winning run and secure a semifinal berth when they take on South Africa in the ICC World Twenty20 in Nagpur, on Friday.
Rabada, the number one ranked Test bowler, could still play if he succeeds in his appeal against an International Cricket Council (ICC) decision to award him three demerit points for his reaction to dismissing Steve Smith in the second Test.
Virat Kohli dropped a position to 11th leaving India with no batsmen in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, in the latest update of the ICC Player Rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said that the 2001 Test series in India, which was won by the hosts, was one of the most remarkable series that he has ever played in. The 41-year-old right handed batsman walked down the memory lane and talked about the historic 2001 India-Australia series, saying: "2001 series was probably the most remarkable Test series I have played in.
No Indian men's side since its first tour in South Africa back in 1992, has ever won a series across any format
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.
Former South Africa coach Ray Jennings feels that India captain Virat Kohli can be 'intimidating in the dressing room.'
Both the teams lost their opening matches but bounced back into reckoning after producing two of the tournament's biggest upsets so far.
India will need to win at least a game in the upcoming one-dayer series against Australia to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Championships, even as second-placed Virat Kohli looks to close in on AB de Villiers in the batting chart. World champions Australia go head to head with former winner India in a five-match series in Perth on Tuesday. Australia (127) lead second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if they lose all the five matches of the series, they will drop points but still finish a point ahead of India.
The India captain dropped three points despite a first innings score of 82 in the third Test in Melbourne, but still enjoys a 34-point lead over Kane Williamson.
Rain and an on-field injury which prevented South African opener Hashim Amla from batting spurred Sri Lanka to a 17-run win under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the second One-dayer in Colombo on Tuesday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 3rd Test played between South Africa and India at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg on Friday
The visitors reached 49 for 1 at stumps after Bumrah's 5/54 that helped them bowl out South Africa for 194 in their first innings.
Tendulkar and Dravid came close to the 900-point mark, but were unable to break the barrier
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday.
Test cricket's most successful captain is contemplating a return to the international game almost two years after he bid adieu to the game. Graeme Smith, South Africa's greatest Test captain, retired in March 2014, but after signing with the UAE-based Masters Champions League Twenty tournament on Monday, he expressed his desire to play again at the highest level.
Kings XI Punjab will be aiming to continue their late surge against Rising Pune Supergiant in a 'winner takes it all' Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune on Sunday.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has described Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a century in each innings of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Ferozshah Kotla, as the most complete Indian batsman in the current team as he has "done well in all conditions".
Hardik Pandya stood tall amid ruins with his all-round prowess but hosts South Africa were still very much in command with a current lead of 142 runs against India after an enthralling second day in the first Test in Cape Town
If Ravichandran Ashwin is being hailed as the best spinner in contemporary cricket, the 29-year-old lanky Indian owes it as much to those long fingers as to an ever-ticking brain.
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has defended the nature of Jamtha track, saying it is poor "technique" of the batsmen and not any "demon" in the pitch that resulted in South Africa being bundled out for a paltry 79 during the third Test.
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.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after Game 51 in IPL 10.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on Friday, ridiculed the media attention on the pitch for the first Test, saying most of the batsmen got out by playing bad shots.
Part-time spinner Dean Elgar ripped through India's batting line-up with four wickets as South Africa made the hosts rue their decision to bat first on the opening day of the first Test in Mohali, on Thursday.
Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni dropped down the ladder to No 4 and 10 respectively, while Shikhar Dhawan retained the seventh rung in the latest Reliance ICC ODI batsmen's rankings, released on Monday.
Their confidence restored after a bumpy start, a transformed Delhi Daredevils will look to stretch Kings XI Punjab to the limit when they face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly opined that he was confident of an Indian victory after the team crossed the 250-run barrier.
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