IT WASN'T THE START that India had hoped for, after captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on a good batting surface at Mohali. But the hosts did well to claw back into the game, as South Africa lost a couple of wickets before they finished day 1 on 28/2, trailing India by 173 runs.
EVERY VISITING TEAM to India has resorted to mind games before a Test series. Statements like "we have a good chance of winning the series" and "on paper we look a better side" or "we prefer to be underdogs" have become mundane.
TWO YEARS AND 16 away Tests later, a young Indian Test side returns to play a home series against a world-class team that has a reputation of being successful tourists.
INDIAN TEAM DIRECTOR Ravi Shastri on Tuesday confirmed Ravichandran Ashwin's availability for the first Test against South Africa at Mohali, saying the offie is 'absolutely fine'.
A DAY AFTER being selected for India's 16-member Test squad, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said that he had played district level matches to make a comeback to the national team.
BCCI SECRETARY Anurag Thakur created momentary confusion over Ravichandra Ashwin's availability in the ongoing tour against South Africa, when he missed mentioning his name while announcing the teams on Monday.
LEFT-ARM SPINNER Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Sreenath Aravind were the only new inclusions as the All-India Senior Selection Committee announced the Indian squads for the last two ODIs and first two Tests against South Africa on Monday.
TEAM INDIA'S batting conundrum and Ishant Sharma's injury is likely to be the focus of the senior selection committee, who will meet on Monday to pick squads for India's last two ODIs and first two Tests against South Africa.
EVERY FORMER Indian great at some point in their career has come under heavy criticism from the media and arm-chair pundits. Today, the India ODI & T20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni finds himself in a similar situation and is being hounded by views from former cricketers and fans on how he can bring more value to the current one-day team.
MS DHONI'S recent batting fiasco has suddenly raised a lot of questions over the cricketer's form and his position in the batting order. It may be slightly exaggerated, but the swords are out and they're calling for the captain's head.
Tweets from https://twitter.com/thefangarage/lists/tweetwagon
Get the latest in the world of Sports, Teams, and Players! Free Delivery to your Inbox.