South Africa captain Temba Bavuma underscored the threat that India's premier left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav is capable of posing, irrespective of whether the surface offers turn to him or not.
Ahead of the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Indian captain Shubman Gill remained non-committal on the final playing XI, particularly on choosing between spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. Gill said the decision will be made after assessing the pitch on match morning.
South Africa's head coach, Shukri Conrad, has described the upcoming two Tests in India as the "biggest challenge", ranking the series alongside the World Test Championship final against Australia.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed that one of the biggest challenges his management is facing stems from the possibility of all-format players getting burnt out, not just physically but mentally as well.
India's cricketing superstar and one of the modern era's greatest batters, Virat Kohli, turned 37 on Wednesday, with heartfelt wishes pouring in from teammates, former players, and his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Australia spinner Matthew Kuhnemann is hopeful about cutting short the fireworks from India's "serious talent" Abhishek Sharma in the upcoming fourth T20I at the Bill Pippen Oval, Gold Coast, on Thursday (November 6).
Team India has released left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the ongoing five-match T20I series in Australia to allow him to participate in the India A series against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for the second four-day Test match.
Australia posted a commanding victory over India in the second T20I at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday as the visitors failed to perform with the bat except for a swashbuckling 68 from Abhishek Sharma and a useful 35 from Harshit Rana.
Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan predicted India's playing XI for the first T20I of the five-match series against Australia in Canberra and left out the nation's premier spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, for mystery ball tweaker Varun Chakravarthy.