Wicketkeeper Kona Bharat has showcased his skills with the gloves and bat in the several games he has played for India 'A' in the past year or so and is close to selection in the Test team.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim an emphatic 113-run victory just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
Sarfaraz, Imad Wasim dropped from Pakistan white-ball squad vs Australia.
However, South Africa have lot of openers stacked on top (Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks) with a light middle order which is still a huge concern.
Delhi Capitals will have their fortune in their own hands as they aim to pull all stops against Mumbai Indians in what will be a virtual quarter-final clash for Rishabh Pant's men as far as their IPL 2022 play-offs hopes are concerned.
The countries will pin their hopes of victory on their quicks with seamer friendly wickets on order for the Tests in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg, and the contests set to be dominated by fiery exchanges of fast bowling.
Save for Quinton de Kock, who has retired from Test cricket and will play for Lucknow Super Giants, there is no certainty on whether Proteas pace attack of Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings), Nortje (DC), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Lungi Ngidi (DC) will be available before the Test series against Bangladesh ends.
Punjab are seventh on the points table with 12 points. The Capitals also have a dozen points and are fifth
Jonny Bairstow led England to within 40 runs of South Africa's first innings total, with seven wickets in hand, on the first day of the second Test at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Images from the third T20 International between India and South Africa, in Indore, on Tuesday.
It may be an inconsequential game on paper but Indian bowlers await another tough test against South Africa ahead of the T20 World Cup when the two teams meet in the final game of the three-match series in Indore on Tuesday.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took three wickets as South Africa bowled India out for 187 to take the opening day honours on a seaming wicket in the third and final Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
South Africa completed a sweep of their two match series against Sri Lanka as they strolled to a 10-wicket win on the third day of the second Test on Tuesday.
Rahul Tewatia changed the course of the match with some crucial strikes.
Fernando took his first-ever Test five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka dismissed South Africa for 302 in their first innings, restricting the hosts to a 145-run lead, while Karunaratne scored an unbeaten 91 in the tourists' second innings.
Delhi Capitals will aim to solve their opening conundrum quickly and boost their chances of making it to the IPL play-offs when they take on a lacklustre Chennai Super Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
South Africa will be without experienced pace bowler Dale Steyn for Thursday's Cricket World Cup opener against England at The Oval after failing to shake off a recurring shoulder problem.
The selectors have added uncapped batsman Raynard van Tonder, seamer Lutho Sipamla and all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius to the squad.
Images from the IPL 2020 opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, in Abu Dhabi, on Saturday.
Two wrist-spinners, who are currently dominating the bowling charts will be itching to show their wares
Rahul and Pant, both match-winners in their own rights even with the bat, will like to seize the initiative in these early rounds.
Images from the rain-curtailed 1st ODI between India and South Africa in Lucknow on Thursday.
At stumps, Pakistan's score read 145/3 with Fawad and Babar unbeaten on 42 and 77 runs respectively. For South Africa, Keshav Maharaj picked two, Anrich Nortje took one while Kagiso Rabada went wicketless.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis scored an unbeaten century to lead his side to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first One-day International at The Wanderers on Sunday.
Pakistan spinners Yasir Shah and Nauman Ali took five wickets between them to restrict South Africa to 220 all out, but the home side faltered in reply to close on 33 for four on day one of a fast-moving first Test in Karachi on Tuesday.
This is the second time Quinton de Kock has won the Cricketer of the Year in CSA's virtual awards
'You want a certain type of wicket when you play at home and when you don't get it you still have to perform. The guys have worked hard, they have toiled a little bit when they have had to'
Mossajee said Rabada will be fully fit within three weeks as his rehabilitation is on track.
Captain Shubman Gill missed out on a century by 10 runs while Jalaj Saxena struck 61 not out as India 'A' dominated the proceedings on the second day of the first unofficial Test against South Africa 'A', in Thiruvananthapuram.
Delhi Capitals need to win all their remaining three matches to keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL 2022 play-offs.
Du Plessis also put on a record seventh wicket stand against Sri Lanka of 133 with Keshav Maharaj (73), who went to his highest Test score before he was the last batsman out.
Lungi Ngidi was full of praise for the Pune surface where he wrecked Kings XI Punjab on Sunday in a stellar display of pace bowling in the batsman-dominated format.
Dhoni has said his team's tremendous 'experience' proved to be a crucial factor in its five-wicket victory
Skipper Rishabh Pant (234 from nine games) showed glimpses of his destructive power but the team would want more from its skipper who is more than capable of hammering any attack into submission.
Chennai Super Kings seem to hold a slight edge going into the match as they have not only got the better of their southern rivals twice in the league stages but also have the winning momentum going into the match on what promises to be a bouncy track.
Delhi Capitals will expect more from their batters after an underwhelming display in their previous outing, while Lucknow Super Giants are eager to shrug off overdependence on skipper KL Rahul when the teams clash in the IPL match in Mumbai on Sunday.
The Punjab bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada have fared well. But the likes of Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh along with Rahul Chahar, who has nine wickets, would need to be on the money.
Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj have been added to the squad as injury replacements but they do not figure in the World Cup-bound squad, as of now.
Here is a complete list of players, who failed to attract any bid in the IPL 2022
Their winning streak halted by defending champions Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore will hope Harshal Patel returns to the playing eleven and contribute in bringing their campaign back on track when they face Delhi Capitals in the IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.