Indian Cricket Team Updates

South Africa’s 10 wickets victory over India in the second and final Test in Durban on Monday has allowed it to extend its lead as the number-one ranked side on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings Table. (Also Read:  Report: South Africa vs India, 2nd Test, Day 5 ) The 1-0 series win has helped South Africa gain two ratings points to finish on 133, while India has conceded two ratings points to end at 117. This means the gap between the two top ranked sides has now increased from 12 ratings points to 16 ratings points. Meanwhile, Australia has an opportunity to finish third on the Test team rankings table. Australia had entered the Ashes series in fifth position on 101 ratings points, but after taking a 4-0 lead against England, it is guaranteed fourth position on the table. And Michael Clarke’s side will gain one more place if it remains unbeaten in the Sydney Test, which starts on Friday, 3 January. If the Sydney Test ends in a draw, then Australia will mov...

With a 10-wicket win in the second Test – legendary all-rounder Jacques Kallis’ last – South Africa claimed the series 1-0. While the No.1 Test side dominated for the better part of the weather-affected match in Durban, the MS Dhoni-led side put up a fight in an attempt to stay in the game. A valiant 96 by Ajinkya Rahane on the last day ensured that the Proteas batted for a second time even if it was to chase down a paltry 58-run target. Captain Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen then attained the total in 11.4 overs just after tea.  Earlier, trailing by 98 runs, India began their quest to first save the game when they came out to the middle on the morning. However, Dale Steyn struck off the first ball of the day to send Virat Kohli back. The fast-bowler almost had Rohit Sharma off the second ball, but the ball landed just short of short mid-wicket. In his next over, Steyn claimed the mainstay of the young Indian batting line-up, Cheteshwar Pujara. With two wickets off two ...

Jacques Kallis (115) became the fourth South African to score a 100 in his last Test, after Pieter van der Bijl, Lee Irvine and Barry Richards.       (Also Read:  Report: South Africa vs India, 2nd Test, Day 4 ) Kallis is also the first batsman since 2007-08 to score a ton in his last Test – Phil Jaques made 108 against West Indies at Bridgetown back in 2007-08. Just before he got out, Jacques Kallis managed to surpass Rahul Dravid’s run aggregate (13,288) to clinch the third spot on the list of leading run-scorers in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) and Ricky Ponting (13,378). Ravindra Jadeja (6/138) returned his best figures in Test cricket, surpassing 5/58 against Australia at Delhi in March this year. Ravindra Jadeja has now taken 33 wickets in six Tests. Only Narendra Hirwani (39) had taken more wickets in his first six Tests for India. Jadeja became the first Indian left-arm spinner to take a five-wicket innings haul outsi...

With a patiently compiled 115 in his last Test, Jacques Kallis helped South Africa to 500 in the first innings. India were trailing by 98 runs with eight wickets with Cheteshwar Pujara (32*) and Virat Kohli (11*) in the middle when bad light once again ended the day’s play. While Kallis had played a vital knock for the hosts, Ravindra Jadeja played a crucial role for India. Bowling tirelessly, the left-arm spinner, who was the most economical of the Indian bowlers, returned with a six-wicket haul in the innings.      (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: South Africa vs India, 1st Test, Day 4 ) Kallis was the center of all attention on the fourth morning. As King Kallis resumed his innings on the overnight score of 78, the spectators waited with bated breath for him to reach the three-figure mark one last time in Tests. And the all-rounder obliged. Soon after they had overcome the overnight 35-run deficit, Kallis brought up his 45th Test ton with a single to mid-o...

Murali Vijay missed out on scoring his first Test century in South Africa but the Indian opening batsman was satisfied to have scored a fighting 97 in the first innings of the Durban Test. "Home or overseas, scoring runs makes me happy," Vijay said, “I am happy with the way I batted the whole day yesterday. Of course, it is disappointing that I couldn't make a hundred. "Scoring runs against the number one side in the world is self-assuring. With the kind of attack that they have, and this is not a flat pitch, it is a two-paced slow wicket. So it is difficult to score runs. I thought I batted well," he said. The opener struggled to score first-class runs ahead of this series, in the home Test season as well as Ranji Trophy. But before heading for this tough tour, he worked on an aspect of his game that was letting him down. "I have been watching videos before I came on this tour,” he said. “The one thing that got me out was playing away...

AB de Villiers (74) has scored at least a 50 in each of his last 10 Tests. He now holds the South African record of scoring half-centuries in most consecutive Tests, going past Jacques Kallis, who scored fifties in 9 consecutive Tests in 2007. The world record is of 11 matches, shared by Viv Richards, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.    (Also Read:  Report: South Africa vs India, 2nd Test, Day 3 ) Kallis has now made 103 scores of 50 or more in Test cricket (44 hundreds and 59 fifties), which puts him at level with Australia’s Ricky Ponting. Only Sachin Tendulkar (119) is ahead of Kallis. If Kallis scores a ton in this innings, he will be the fourth South African to score a 100 in his last Test. The others are: Pieter van der Bijl (125 vs England, Durban, 1938-39), Lee Irvine (102 v Australia, Port Elizabeth, 1969-70) and Barry Richards (126 v Australia, Port Elizabeth, 1969-70). Incidentally, the last player to score a 100 in his last Test was Austra...

Rain and bad light once again made their presence felt and play had to be called off early with South Africa on 299 on five and trailing by 35 runs. At stumps, Jacques Kallis was batting on 78 with night watchman Dale Steyn yet to open his account.   (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: South Africa vs India, 1st Test, Day 3 ) Earlier, India came out all guns blazing on the third morning and claimed three wickets in the first session to pull the game back, until Kallis and AB de Villiers came together and stitched a partnership.  In the fourth over of the day, South Africa survived an early scare as Robin Petersen who was batting fluently survived a stumping off Ravindra Jadeja while on 53. But a breakthrough was not far away as Shikhar Dhawan took an exceptional catch to dismiss Graeme Smith couple of overs later when the SA captain skied Jadeja.  With the opening stand halted at 103, Hashim Amla made his way to the middle. But 10 runs later, Mohammed Sh...

Murali Vijay (97) just missed the opportunity to score his first Test ton in an away Test. He became the fifth Indian to be dismissed in 90s on South African soil, after MS Dhoni, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.  (Also Read:  Report: South Africa vs India, 2nd Test, Day 2 ) India were 198 for one at one stage, but lost their next three wickets for only one run. Again, they were 320 for five, but lost their next five wickets for only 14 runs. Ajinkya Rahane (51*) made his maiden Test 50 in his third Test. Jacques Kallis completed 200 catches in Test cricket when he caught Ravindra Jadeja off the bowling of JP Duminy. He became only the second fielder after India’s Rahul Dravid (210) to accomplish this feat.  Interestingly, Dravid had taken his 200th catch against South Africa at Durban on December 27 (2010). Kallis emulated him at the same ground on the same day, three years down the line! Dale Steyn (6/100) took his 22nd five-wicket haul in Test cricket – ...

Picking nine wickets during the day, South Africa bowled India out for 334 and were trailing by 252 runs at stumps. The first session belonged to the weather Gods, but the rest of it was South Africa and Dale Steyn’s. The ace paceman who had gone wicketless in the second innings at the New Wanderers and on Day 1 in Durban, pegged India back with three wickets in the second session. Steyn’s first spell of the day read 5-2-19-3. Complemented by his fellow bowlers and supported by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers, he finished with six wickets as he wrecked the Indian line-up.  (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: South Africa vs India, 1st Test, Day 2 ) Batting for 20 overs, Graeme Smith (35*) and Alviro Petersen (46*) then took the hosts to 82 without loss.  Earlier, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara took guard after lunch. The first runs of the day came off Pujara’s bat. The No.3 batsman drove Morne Morkel through covers to the ropes. And Vijay too got started for the day wit...

This Test match is the fifth between India and South Africa at Durban. India have won one, while South Africa have won two at this particular venue. (Also Read:  Report: South Africa vs India, 2nd Test, Day 1 ) India are playing their 13th Boxing Day Test. They have won only one, lost nine and drawn two. Interestingly, India’s only Boxing Day Test win came against South Africa at Durban in 2010. This is the 50th Test match for Graeme Smith as captain on home soil. He became only the second player after Allan Border (51) to do so. Steve Davis was officiating for the 50th time in a Test. He becomes 11th umpire to complete half-century of Tests. R Ashwin missed a Test for the second time in his career. He had to sit out of the Perth Test in 2011-12 after going wicketless in the Sydney Test. Murali Vijay (91*) made his highest score in an away Test, surpassing his 58 against Sri Lanka at Colombo SSC in 2010. The 140-run unbroken partnership between Murali ...

A determined performance by Murali Vijay (91*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (58*) helped India to 181 for one at stumps on Day 1 against South Africa in Durban. They blunted the Proteas’ attack to add 140 runs in an unbroken partnership after the departure of Shikhar Dhawan in the first session, until bad light forced play to be called off.  (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: South Africa vs India, 1st Test, Day 1 ) MS Dhoni once again opted to bat first after winning the toss and the batsmen rose to the occasion. Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay saw the new ball off and bided their time at the crease, while the Dale Steyn-led attack hit the deck hard at Kingsmead. However, an hour into the day, Dhawan departed pushing the ball to third slip. Much to South Africa’s relief, Morne Morkel who was injured during the first Test recovered quickly to turn up for the hosts at Durban. Accounting for the wicket of the left-hand batsman, the tall pacer gave the Proteas their first and only ...

What First of the two-Test series between South Africa and India When December 18-22, 2013 – 08:30 GMT (14:00 IST) Where The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa The Teams India The first leg of their South African sojourn didn’t turn out to be very memorable. One can only hope that by now the Indians have gotten used to the conditions well enough to put up better fight in the Tests – that the batsmen are now equipped at handling the movement and the bowlers have figured out what the right length is on these tracks. Having played an ODI at the Wanderers just a few days back should give them better understanding of what to expect in the first Test. What should also help India is the addition of some fresh faces that were not part of the ODI team. Zaheer Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara will bring experience and solidity on the bowling and batting fronts respectively. Zaheer in particular, will be the single-most crucial factor in moulding India’s fate in the ser...