India great Virat Kohli continued his push to regain his place as the best ODI batter while moving up to the second spot in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday.

Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah bagged two wickets each to help India bowl South Africa out for 74 in the chase of 176 in Cuttack.

Three years ago, Rohit Sharma had called Tilak Varma a "three-format India player in the making" - praising his technique, temperament, and clean shot selection.

With only a travel day separating the first two games of the five-match series, Shubman Gill won't mind getting straight into the middle in search of a substantial knock.

After the match, Hardik Pandya took a moment and credited his girlfriend, Mahieka Sharma for his performance.

Former South Africa pace ace Dale Steyn feels Suryakumar Yadav's "secure, welcoming, and willing to adjust" captaincy brings out the best in the the players, who in turn back their skipper.

The player acknowledged the depth of talent in Indian cricket and emphasised that both he and Sanju Samson share the same goal.

Shubman Gill is poised to become the next Indian all-format captain. He is already the ODI and Test skipper and was named vice-captain of the T20I side during the Asia Cup 2025

Hardik Pandya smashed an unbeaten 28-ball 59 and took a wicket as India thrashed South Africa by 101 runs in the first T20I in Cuttack.

Hardik Pandya was named Player of the Match after his unbeaten 59 of 28 deliveries, which powered India to a commanding win against South Africa in the first T20I in Cuttack on Tuesday.

The BCCI added nine players to the IPL 2026 auction list late on Tuesday, and also corrected a minor error in the previous list.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav urged his teammates to remain on the fearless cricket path, and was happy to see the batting depth rescuing the team against South Africa in the first T20I

Hardik Pandya made a memorable comeback to competitive cricket, striking a mood-lifting unbeaten fifty and then taking a key wicket as India etched a dominant 101-run win over South Africa

Jasprit Bumrah on Tuesday became the first Indian player to take at least 100 wickets in each of the three formats

Hardik Pandya marked his return to competitive cricket with a blistering half-century that helped India recover from early blows to post a healthy 175/6 in the opening T20I against South Africa

The T20 World Cup 2026 starts in less than two months, on February 7, while the final will be played on March 8

Shubman Gill, India's vice-captain for the five-game T20I series against South Africa, said that his body was feeling 'perfectly fine' heading into the series as he made a return to international cricket

It is 10 matches to go before the start of the T20 World Cup at home. As India preps for the best XI, they have left out Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson, and Washington Sundar from the opening T20 against South Africa