Senuran Muthusamy and Kagiso Rabada hit fighting half-centuries as South Africa took a crucial 71-run lead over Pakistan on day three of the second Test in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Pakistan beat South Africa by 93 runs in the first Test in Lahore on Wednesday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 17 runs.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir heaped praise on Shubman Gill's leadership following their 2-0 Test series sweep against West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

Chasing 121 for victory, the home side achieved the target in the final day's morning session.

Spinner Ravindra Jadeja claimed four wickets as India thrashed West Indies by an innings and 140 runs inside three days of the first Test in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja hit attacking centuries to put India in total control with a lead of 286 against the West Indies in the first Test on Friday.

Opener KL Rahul hit an unbeaten century and together with skipper Shubman Gill steered a dominant India into a 56-run lead over the West Indies on day two of the first Test on Friday.

Pakistan on Tuesday included five spinners and recalled paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi in an 18-man squad for the two-match Test series at home to South Africa.

Shubman Gill's India will be heavy favourites when they play a home two-Test series starting Thursday against a West Indies side struggling with injuries and a pale shadow of the team that once dominated cricket.

India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to be rested for the remainder of the Asia Cup despite a two-match home Test series against the West Indies starting early next month.

England batter Joe Root said his experience of 158 Tests makes him better equipped than ever to end a victory drought in Australia, as he ramps up preparations for the upcoming Ashes series.

Dropped Australian Test star Marnus Labuschagne says he is determined to bounce back and prove the doubters wrong, putting his hand up to open in the Ashes series against England.

All-rounder Chris Woakes is still processing the shock after England fell agonisingly short of a "fairytale" series victory despite his remarkable act of bravery in the fifth and final Test against India.

If Test cricket is the sporting equivalent of a literary epic, the five-match Test series between England and India was its Iliad -- a battle of two groups of warriors which will go down in history as a tale of valour, heroism and sheer audacity.

When it comes to doing the impossible, millions around the globe, especially avid sports fans, turn to inspiration from one man who probably did it more than anyone in the sports fraternity -- Cristiano Ronaldo.

"People keep asking if Test cricket will survive, but what we saw over these five games is the answer."

How Test cricket can be saved is a question that has been pondered upon for over a century, and since 2016, the ICC has seemingly made up its mind on the solution: dividing the teams into two tiers.

India star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the fifth and deciding Test at the Oval on Thursday as stand-in England captain Ollie Pope won the toss and elected to field.

England and India head to The Oval today for the fifth and decisive Test of a tightly contested series.