For someone who smashed 1000 first-class runs in a month's domestic cricket in the 2017-18 season, it shouldn't come as a surprise that a heavy duty scorer like Mayank Agarwal knows a thing or two about the art of conversion, believes Cheteshwar Pujara.
The Pretoria wicket is likely to be similar, with perhaps not the same sideways movement of Newlands, and will provide another test of the Indian batsmen's bravery against a seam bowling barrage.
Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock's showing represented an important turning point for South Africa's relatively inexperienced batting line-up as they head into an important summer that also includes a home Test series against England.
While South Africa grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, the visitors squandered a golden opportunity to script a memorable win outside the sub-continent.
The three-Test South Africa series is the first of a gruelling 2018-19 season that includes tours to England and Australia.
Dean Elgar scored an unbeaten century but an excellent spell of bowling from Australia seamer Pat Cummins restricted South Africa to 266 for eight at the close of play on the opening day of the third Test at Newlands on Thursday.
The 28-year-old Starc finished with a match haul of nine for 109, enabling him to overtake South Africa's new-ball bowlers Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander among others, eclipsing his previous best sixth position that he enjoyed in December 2016.
Earlier, South Africa England swung the bat to declare on 313-8 at tea on the fourth day, a taking huge lead of 491 runs.
Indian cricket team stands a chance of making big gains in terms of International Cricket Council (ICC) Test ranking if they manage to register a 3-1 victory over Australia in their ongoing four-match series.
It wasn't very difficult to read between the lines as to what he meant after Ravindra Jadeja was preferred in the West Indies.
India captain Virat Kohli chalked up his seventh double hundred in Tests before his pacers claimed a few early wickets to leave South Africa reeling, on Day 2, of the second Test against South Africa at Pune.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami picked up a five-wicket haul while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four in South Africa's second innings to hand India a convincing 203-run victory, in the opening Test.
Du Plessis had a tough time in 2015, scoring just 60 runs in seven innings.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban on Thursday.
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.
India's three-match ODI campaign against South Africa starting on Thursday where the hosts would be aiming to put the 'New Zealand Nightmare' behind them.
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slipped a place to take the third position in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers in Dubai on Thursday.
Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada claimed four wickets each as South Africa ripped out Sri Lanka for 110 on the second day of the second Test.
South Africa need five wickets on Friday to secure victory in the first Test after Sri Lanka provided dogged resistance and were 240 for five at stumps on the fourth day at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth.
Dhananjaya de Silva enhanced his rapidly-growing reputation with an unbeaten 43 as he kept South Africa's strike bowlers at bay to see Sri Lanka to 181 for seven in their first innings at the end of the second day of the first Test on Tuesday. The 25-year-old, who hit a six with his first scoring shot when he made his Test debut against Australia in July, brought Sri Lanka within 105 runs of South Africa's first innings total of 286 before bad light stopped play for the day.
South Africa have named uncapped batsman Theunis de Bruyn in their injury-hit squad for the three-match home Test series against Sri Lanka that starts on December 26.
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.
'For all of us it is just about converting and I am not different to any one of those players when I get to 50, I want to get a hundred'
Virat Kohli's men ticked almost all the boxes during their 203-run win in the opening encounter in Visakhapatnam and they would like to maintain the same intensity in their bid to seal the series in Pune itself.
South Africa lost both openers but were still 230 runs ahead of Bangladesh at the close on the third day of the first Test when bad light stopped play on Saturday.
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.
The former opening batsman joined as DOC in December last year following the suspension of CEO Thabang Moroe and has since signed a two-year deal with the option of extending for a third term.
India captain Virat Kohli remained in second spot behind Steve Smith while Alastair Cook jumped nine places to be eighth in the latest ICC Test rankings after his unbeaten double century in the ongoing Ashes.
England ended a well contested first day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa on 260 for six with the late loss of Ben Stokes giving heart to the tourists.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the fourth Test between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg on Monday
IMAGES from Day 3 of the fourth Test between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Kagiso Rabada claimed a six-wicket haul on Thursday as South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 224 in their second innings to win the second Test by 282 runs with a day and a half to spare and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Sri Lanka failed to last the first session of the fourth day at Newlands, having resumed on 130-4 and being dismissed after just over 100 minutes of play.
Australia moved one wicket from victory in the first Test against South Africa on Sunday after Mitchell Starc's swing bowling decimated the hosts' lower order and dampened their hopes of an unlikely recovery.
India will be desperately hoping that Rohit replicates his limited overs success in the traditional format
England must chase down a world-record 474 to win the second Test while South Africa have two full days to bowl them out after the tourists' batsmen provided the strongest possible platform for victory on the third day in Nottingham on Sunday.
PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi is in the UK meeting with the British legal firm for advise. PCB's chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad has also flown to London for the same purpose.
Former Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson has labelled the Decision Review System (DRS) as a `failure` after all-rounder Mitchell Marsh's controversial leg before dismissal during the opening Test of the three-match series against South Africa at the WACA Ground in Perth. The incident took place on the fifth day of the first Test when Marsh was originally given not out after he was struck low on the pads of a Kagiso Rabada delivery. However, the decision was over-turned when the ball-tracking technology showed it to be hitting more than 50 per cent of Marsh's leg stump and he was sent back to the pavilion.
Jimmy Anderson put England in firm control on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Saturday, with his four wickets leaving South Africa trailing by 142 runs with just one first-innings wicket remaining.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 3rd Test played between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town on Sunday
The win was England's first against South Africa at Lord's since 1960.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances