India might have felt the absence of their injured No 1 spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Rediff.com takes a look at the select few promising Indians who left a mark on the tournament.
Umar Gul emerged the unlikely batting hero as Pakistan came back from the dead to pull off a nerve-wracking two-wicket victory over South Africa in their opening Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 in Colombo on Friday. Chasing a target of 134, on a difficult Premadasa strip, Gul produced a blistering 17-ball 32 while Umar Akmal scored an unbeaten 43 to guide the team to a thrilling victory with two balls to spare.
With Delhi Daredevils leading the pack in the current edition of the Indian Premier League, South African recruit Morne Morkel credited coach Eric Simmons for the team's turn around.
Rajasthan Royals will be looking to make amends when they take on the formidable Delhi Daredevils just 48 hours after losing a close away game, in their Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews weathered a fiery spell of reverse swing bowling from Dayle Steyn to take his team past the follow-on mark on the third day of the first Test against South Africa on Friday.
Irfan Pathan scored a brisk unbeaten 42 to guide Delhi Daredevils to a comfortable eight-wicket win over hosts Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-curtailed 12-overs-a-side Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
4 out of this 22 year old's 7 ODI hundreds have come against which country? Rajneesh Gupta has the numbers from the Rajkot ODI.
Skipper Virat Kohli's weakness outside the off-stump was again exposed as India plunged into deep trouble at 28 for three, after their bowlers dismissed South Africa for a modest 286, on the opening day of the first Test in Cape Town on Friday.
The decision to leave out paceman Morne Morkel in the IPL Qualifier II raised a lot of eyebrows but Delhi Daredevils head coach Eric Simmons defended the strategy, saying it was aimed at finding the 'right balance' in the side.
Statistical highlights of the first Qualifier of the Indian Premier League match played between Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka collapsed to their lowest one-day score of 43 on Wednesday when they lost by 258 runs to South Africa in the first one-day international at Boland Park.
Statistical highlights of the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.
Ajinkya Rahane's superb 84-run knock went in vain as Delhi Daredevils pulled off a dramatic one-run win over Rajasthan Royals to open up a three-point lead at the top of the Indian Premier League table in New Delhi on Sunday.
With no team as yet assured of a last four play-off berth, Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Wasim Akram described this Indian Premier League (IPL) season as the most interesting in its eight-year history.
Kane Williamson scored his second Test century and guided New Zealand to an unexpected draw as the hosts made 200 for six at the end of the third and final Test against South Africa at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.
New Zealand finished the fourth day of the final Test 274 runs behind South Africa on Monday and lost Ross Taylor to a broken arm after the skipper was struck by a Morne Morkel bouncer.
Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has picked Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar as the toughest bowler he has faced in his illustrious international career.
New Zealand's nine-wicket loss to South Africa in the second Test was a closer match than the result suggests and the hosts' captain Ross Taylor believes his team is not far away from being competitive in the third Test in Wellington.
J P Duminy blasted an unbeaten 86 and Dale Steyn bowled a sensational last over as South Africa pulled of a dramatic two-run victory over New Zealand to bring their ICC World Twenty20 campaign back on track, in Chittagong, on Monday.
Firebrand fast bowler Kagiso Rabada bagged two wickets as South Africa reduced England to 52 for three at the close of day four of the final Test on Monday.
Kagiso Rabada became the youngest South Africa bowler to take seven wickets in an innings as the hosts took charge of the fourth and final Test against England on Sunday.
South Africa have named an unchanged squad for the remaining two Tests against England as AB de Villiers prepares to lead the five-day team for the first time in Johannesburg on Thursday.
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.
South Africa produced a dominant performance on Sunday to beat Australia by 80 runs in the second One-day International to level the three-match series 1-1.
Jacques Kallis's new look makes him look 20 years younger, feels teammate Morne Morkel. And, what is this new change that is getting Kallis so much attention?
Delhi Daredevils' pacer Morne Morkel is relishing the prospect of another bowling duel with Sachin Tendulkar when his side takes on Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League in New Delhi on Sunday.
Images from the World Cup match between South Africa and Ireland being played at Eden Gardens.
He has always opened the bowling for South Africa but speedster Morne Morkel isn't complaining at being used as a one-change bowler by his IPL team Delhi Daredevils.
India's vulnerability to short pitched bowling was exposed as South Africa speedsters Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel exploited seaming conditions to leave the visitors in tatters on a rain-hit opening day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
Spinner Moeen Ali completed a hat-trick to seal England's 239-run victory over South Africa in the third Test at The Oval on Monday.
Former South Africa captain Clive Rice rates the India bowling attack higher than South Africa's and said the home bowlers would struggle to take 20 wickets against a batting line-up, which boasts of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, in the Test series starting next week.
Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag said that he was determined to bat throughout the innings against Kochi Tuskers Kerala in an Indian Premier League match in Kochi on Saturday.
After a week of action at the Cricket World Cup, with each team now playing at least one match, here's an analysis of how the main contenders are shaping up.
Rival captains Graeme Smith and Elton Chigumbura termed the wicket at the Chepauk as 'under-prepared' and hoped that the wickets will be better prepared in time for the World Cup.
He's been one of the most consistent players in the last six months, and even towered above other Indian batsmen in the recently-concluded series in South Africa. While India's leading batsmen struggled to cope with the pace and bounce of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, Virat Kohli was rock-solid and unyielding.
Lonwabo Tsotsobe claimed 13 wickets to emerge as the most valuable player (MVP) of the South Africa-India ODI series. Morne Morkel, who was picked as the man of the series, is second on the list, and India's Munaf Patel is fourth in a series dominated by bowlers.
Yusuf Pathan's blistering century proved in vain for India as South Africa won the fifth and decisive one-day international by 33 runs on Sunday to take the series 3-2.
South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 22 runs in the second Twenty20 international in wind-swept Hambantota on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Images from Day 3 in the third Test between India and South Africa in Cape Town, on Tuesday.
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