The U.S. Soccer Federation filed a brief opposing certification of the players' class action status late on Monday evening in the equal pay lawsuit involving members of the U.S. women's national team.

The players first filed their lawsuit on March 8 of this year, alleging that the USSF violated the pay discrimination provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by paying members of the U.S. men's national team more than those players on the U.S. women's national team. The suit is also alleging discriminatory working conditions in terms of travel and transportation, medical care, training and nutrition services, and quality of playing surface.

"The members of the MNT have received superior and discriminatory treatment across the board with respect to each of these uniformly applied working conditions," the players stated in a recent filing.

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On Sept. 9, the plaintiffs filed a motion requesting that the court certify the players as a class. The motion requested that the court appoint Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn as class representatives.

The class designation seeks to award the players injunctive relief for any player who is a team member on the day of final judgement or appeal, as well as back pay and punitive damages for any player on the team at any time between Feb. 4, 2014 to the present.

Certifying a class would allow the players to argue their case as a group and allow any players to opt in to the class. Those who don't opt in can still sue on their own.

The filing on behalf of the USSF, which was required by the court, contends that the class certification should be denied because from 2014 to 2019, the proposed class representatives -- Morgan, Rapinoe, Lloyd and Sauerbrunn -- were paid more than the highest earning MNT members "and therefore suffered no injury."

The filing provides charts comparing the earnings of the four proposed class representatives to the highest-earning USMNT member. For the five-year period in question, Lloyd, Rapinoe, Sauerbrunn and Morgan each earned over $1.5 million (including salaries for playing in the NWSL), while the highest earning men's player made $993,967. If the NWSL salaries are excluded, Lloyd, Rapinoe, Sauerbrunn and Morgan made just over $1.1 million.

"Plaintiffs also claim that they were subjected to discriminatory terms and conditions of employment under Title VII," the brief reads. "Noticeably absent from Plaintiffs' motion for class certification is any evidentiary proof showing that the proposed Class Representatives meet the Article III constitutional standing requirements.

"Because of the lack of proof showing the Class Representatives suffered any injury that could be remedied by this Court's adjudication of their Title VII claims, Plaintiffs' motion for class certification should be denied."

Molly Levinson, a spokesperson for the players, said when asked for a comment on the USSF's filing: "Pay should be based on performance, not gender. USSF tries to spin the undeniable fact that if men players won their games, they would be paid considerably more than the women are now. This is a tired argument from USSF that women players must work twice as hard and win every time men lose in order to try to be paid and have the same working conditions as the men. It runs counter to every American principle of equality, won't stop this case from going forward as a class action, and doesn't stand a chance in a trial."

It's worth noting that earnings by players from the USMNT were adversely affected during the period in question due to the team's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. During 2018, the men's player highlighted in the USSF's data made $11,250. In 2014, the last time the men qualified for the World Cup, that player made $391,847.

The players on the two national teams are represented by separate players unions, and have markedly different pay structures in their respective collective bargaining agreements. The men operate on a purely pay-for-play basis in which they only get paid for games when they get placed on a game roster. The bulk of the income for players on the U.S. men's national team comes from their respective club teams. The women's CBA specifies that a core group of players are paid a base salary plus benefits, regardless of whether they play in games or not. They are also paid an additional salary for playing in the NWSL. The other "non-contracted" WNT players receive a per-game roster payment for each game they play, in lieu of a base salary amount.

In the Sept. 9 filing, the lawyers for the players asserted that: "For each category of WNT players-contracted and non-contracted players-the per-game compensation they receive, prior to any team performance bonuses, is far less than the per-game compensation, prior to performance bonuses, received by members of the MNT. In addition, the team performance bonuses paid to both contracted and non-contracted members of the WNT are uniform in amount and are less than the bonuses paid to members of the MNT for a comparable team performance. All of these base salary and bonus terms are set forth in the applicable CBAs and applied to all WNT and MNT members."

The USSF's lawyers countered: "The Class Representatives' mere allegations that the WNT and MNT players were paid differently are not the type of 'evidentiary proof' showing that they suffered a concrete injury-in-fact that is fairly traceable to U.S. Soccer," the USSF filing read.

If the court rules in favor of the USSF's filing, the players can still participate in the lawsuit on their own behalf. Regardless of how the court rules on the USSF filing, the case will continue.

Former general secretary of North American soccer's governing body CONCACAF Enrique Sanz has been banned from any football-related activity for life after being found guilty of bribery, FIFA announced on Tuesday.

Sanz was found guilty of negotiating bribes in competitions organised by FIFA, CONCACAF, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) between 2012 and 2015.

He was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($100,200) by the world soccer governing body.

Sanz, a Colombian-American, joined CONCACAF in 2012 before being sacked in 2015 amid corruption allegations.

His predecessor Chuck Blazer, who died in 2017, was given a life ban by FIFA in 2015 after he was indicted and pleaded guilty to charges including accepting bribes and kickbacks while general secretary, having held the role from 1990 to 2011.

Former United States men's national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann called the CONCACAF Nations League "a waste of time" and said that if the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica are ever going to get to the level of the top international sides, they need to find competition outside the region.

Speaking to ESPN's Herculez Gomez in the wake of ESPN securing the U.S. broadcast rights to the Bundesliga, Klinsmann was blunt in his assessment of the CONCACAF region.

"I think the biggest challenge for the United States, or even Mexico or Costa Rica, for the key countries in this region, is you don't really have the highest competition outside," Klinsmann said. "That means when you play just within your own system, you don't have the big matches against European countries or South American countries in order to grow your program, in order to grow your players.

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"So literally when you are kind of locked into CONCACAF and you don't play Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile every year, or you don't play Holland, Germany, England, Spain, Italy every year, you have no chance to grow.

"And that's what I always said, you have to leave this region here in order to make your program better, to improve your players. And this a big, big handicap for all the players and all the programs, if it's Mexico, Costa Rica or the United States."

The U.S. has played nine of the 10 CONMEBOL nations as well as England, France and Italy, since the start of 2018 -- the team also played 15 games away to European nations during Klinsmann's five years in charge -- but the advent of the CONCACAF Nations League limits the number of friendly games.

The two remaining international fixture windows for 2019 will be taken up by Nations League matches, with the U.S. in a group with Cuba and Canada. With the finals of the CONCACAF Nations League slated for next June, that only leaves the March 2020 window to schedule matches against teams from outside the region.

"It's a waste of time, I'm telling you," Klinsmann said of the new competition. "It's a waste of time because you that need [that competition] as a country. I mean talking about Mexico, everyone is hoping for the fifth game in the World Cup. You're not reaching that fifth game in the World Cup if you play the teams you are playing now in the Nations League in CONCACAF. You are not.

"Because you need to play Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Holland and England. That is your competition. And when you have an opening for a national team window and you can maybe make one or two friendly games, you need to play Argentina or Germany and not a CONCACAF team.

"So within that system that was created here, it's almost impossible for United States or Mexico to get better. And that is why Mexico just lost against Argentina 4-0."

There was always a question of how much countries like Mexico, Costa Rica and the U.S. would get out of the Nations League, given how it limits opportunities to play nations from other confederations.

But given the advent of a similar competition in Europe called the UEFA Nations League, as well as the fact that World Cup qualifying for South America will begin shortly after the 2018 World Cup concludes, those opportunities were already going to be limited.

"There will still be space for [intercontinental friendlies]," CONCACAF said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the competition in November 2017. "In broader terms, the League of Nations aligns CONCACAF with the general movement in the world of international football, away from low-stakes friendly matches."

Klinsmann added that another problem in the U.S. is that the federation prioritizes finances over results in terms of finding international opponents.

"There might not be the financial benefit to it when you travel to Italy or to Holland or to Germany or to England, than playing a home game in the United States with the, I don't know, whatever revenues are coming in," he said. "So at the end of the day it is very, very difficult to make your players better when they don't have the highest competition possible."

When approached by ESPN, U.S. Soccer declined to comment.

In the interim, the priority for U.S. players is to seek out the high-level club opportunities, in particular playing for European teams.

"The players need to play in the best leagues in the world, which are in Europe, as many as possible," Klinsmann said. "Which we are very proud of, a lot of them now playing in the Bundesliga, or Christian Pulisic playing in the Premier League. This is super exciting.

"And the same with the Mexican best players, they play in Europe, it doesn't matter where they play. [Hirving] Lozano plays in Napoli and [Javier Hernandez] plays [with Sevilla], and so on. So the challenge for a coach is always, 'How do I get my players to play at the highest level possible for them?' And if not, then you know you always have these setbacks."

Klinsmann also insisted that he thinks MLS benefits American players, just that some things can be improved.

"I think MLS is a wonderful place, to come through, to fight through," he said. "I think that the coaches here that really try to give the younger players the chance, I see a lot of young players now out there. And then it's down to the players as well.

"So how far do I want to take it now from here? I think with the growing MLS, every year the quality is improving. Every year they are trying to compete more, especially with Liga MX, which is awesome to do. I think the developmental path is there. But they have got to give a clear message to the players as well that it is down to them to become more consistent."

Former U.S. men's national team boss Jurgen Klinsmann said there is "an exciting group of players emerging" for the U.S., and that he hopes manager Gregg Berhalter is given a chance to grow the program.

Speaking to ESPN's Herculez Gomez in the wake of ESPN securing the U.S. broadcast rights to the Bundesliga, Klinsmann stated that he likes what he sees from the current crop of players, several of whom are playing in Europe.

"You know you look at Tyler Adams, you look at obviously Christian Pulisic," Klinsmann said. "You have several players, Josh Sargent, to come out of the Tab Ramos U-20 group over the last few years, who has done tremendously well with the U-20s. So when you have a U-20 national team that now three times went to the final eight of a World Cup, that means that you have quality, you have quality young players.

"So now you have got to feed those young players into the next stage of their careers. So now you have a midfield with Weston McKennie, with Adams, with Pulisic, with Sargent up front. They promise a lot of quality. Younger players coming through and they are trying their best in whatever leagues they are playing. So there is some potential there. Now in order to prepare that group of players then, for a next World Cup, this is a bigger-picture discussion that you need to have because they need the best competition available."

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As for Berhalter, Klinsmann said that his impression of the U.S. manager is "very positive," although he needs time to build the current side.

"You wish that he is given a chance to make the players grow," Klinsmann said about Berhalter. "I think he saw things from different perspectives. He played in Europe as well. So he knows a little bit about the European approach to things. He knows obviously how things work in the U.S. He needs time to bring in his ideas and make things grow. At the end of the day, you need the competition and the competition is CONCACAF. So it's a big task for Gregg but I'm positive that he is doing well."

Klinsmann also touched on the failed effort to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which started under his watch. Overall, Klinsmann called his five-year tenure with the U.S. "an awesome time" and that he was "honored" to lead the U.S. program. But he was fired two games into the final round Hexagonal, and replaced by Bruce Arena, after which the Americans ultimately fell short in their bid to make it to Russia.

"Well what went wrong, I was not in charge anymore, so obviously when you don't qualify for a World Cup a lot of things went wrong," he said.

He added: "You were not prepared for finishing things off. You were qualified 99 percent, so whatever reason it went wrong there with the entire environment, it went wrong and nobody would expect that the other two games go in the same direction."

Klinsmann said that he was aware that then-United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati was maneuvering to replace him with Arena, as Arena claimed in a book. The change was delayed when then USSF Secretary General Dan Flynn had to undergo a heart transplant, but eventually took place.

"I knew that, yeah," he said. "It doesn't really matter who at the end of the day leads the program. I think the most important thing is whatever job you are given, you have to get the job done. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. They didn't qualify for the World Cup in Russia, which is very, very sad. Obviously.

"I think the bigger picture in this whole thing is how can you improve the region by itself. Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States: How could they end up possibly in a final four in a World Cup? Because that should be the goal. I mean especially for Mexico, which is completely soccer crazy driven. When it just stays within that region, you aren't going to reach those goals."

On the flight back to Paris from Bordeaux on Saturday evening, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe sat next to each other. While some on board were sleeping (or trying to), watching some shows on Netflix or playing the new Mario Kart game on their phones, the two best friends were messing around, playing music and dancing. You could almost hear them laughing all the way back to the capital.

What's important here isn't that Neymar was on the plane with Mbappe, but that the Brazilian's happy and enjoying life again as a Paris Saint-Germain player.

"It is like a new lease of life," a source close to the team told ESPN. "It feels like he is a different person at times. He is happy, relaxed, interacting a lot with everyone. He wants to prove what a world-class player he is so he gets forgiven by the fans. This season is an important one for him and for the club and he knows that. He wants it to be a really successful one."

Of course, the record shows that Neymar wanted to leave PSG. It was the transfer saga of the summer, but one that ultimately ended in disappointment for everyone: the player, his old club Barcelona and a PSG side that was perhaps willing to cut their losses and move on. However, once Neymar knew he was staying at the Parc des Princes, his mindset changed. It was time to embrace both the club and the fans. He was not going to sulk, but instead look to make the best of a bad situation. But will the fans forgive him?

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Before rejoining the PSG squad for the Sept. 14 game against Strasbourg, Neymar addressed his teammates: "I am going to be back to my best and take this team to the next level." Since then, PSG have won 1-0 three times in their last four Ligue 1 matches, with Neymar netting all three of those match-winning goals, including two world-class efforts vs. Strasbourg and at Lyon. In Bordeaux on Saturday, the thousand Paris ultras who travelled south didn't boo him -- they did after his game-winning effort vs. Strasbourg -- but cheered him on.

It feels very much like the start of the Neymar 2.0 era in Paris. The Brazilian won't drastically change his way of playing or his lifestyle. That's not the point anyway, but he has clearly decided to embrace the club, its culture, its philosophy and its fans more than ever.

With manager Thomas Tuchel, Neymar's relationship has always been great, perhaps too great at times. The German manager allowed his No. 10 too much freedom last season, but Tuchel will continue to build a lot of his season around Neymar. Also, the arrival of Leonardo as a sporting director, possessing much more authority and power than his predecessor, Antero Henrique, also meant that Neymar's attitude had to change from the last two seasons.

Leonardo was firm with him from Day 1. He reminded Neymar of what he expected from him: leadership by example on and off the pitch, responsibility and respect of the club and the fans. Neymar, and his father, liked Leonardo's honesty. After all, Leonardo knows how important the former Barcelona player is to the team. His stats are incredible so far in 2019-20, but this time, the club is hoping Neymar won't get injured and miss the last four months of the season, particularly when they might need him most in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Neymar/Mbappe axis will be at the heart of everything good that this PSG squad will do this season. As Tuchel said after the win in Bordeaux, "Life is easier when you have this kind of quality."

On Saturday evening, once the PSG plane landed in Paris, Mbappe and Neymar went home before meeting again, this time to attend the birthday party of their friend, the model Cindy Bruna, at the luxurious Lutetia Hotel in the Saint Germain des Près area of the capital. Between them, it is a proper bromance. They make each other happy.

"There are no filters between us. That's the charm of our relationship, which was always based on honesty and admiration," Mbappe said on Saturday. They have the whole season to make sure that the "Ky-Ky and Ney" duo takes PSG as far as possible. But there's no telling how long it might take Neymar to repair things with the fans. A few more big goals can't hurt.

Big picture

Remember the first Test between these sides four years ago? South Africa had won the T20I series, Kagiso Rabada had outdone MS Dhoni in an ODI, South Africa had mauled 438 in another, and India took the ultimate gamble going into the Tests. Coach Ravi Shastri admitted later said those were desperate times, and they asked for extreme pitches to restore the confidence of a young team that was being outmuscled at home. The context, the anticipation, India's coach playing mind games with an announcement that he didn't mind playing four spinners, South Africa starting off with momentum and confidence, it all made up for a great build-up.

Remember the return tour? South Africa vowing revenge, asking for extreme pitches of their own, India fighting fire with fire, South Africa captain berating his own groundsmen for not being co-operative enough until he got them to co-operate so much that they nearly got the Wanderers banned.

Now? Now the talk is about how South Africa have nothing to lose and all to gain. None of that needle or anticipation exists now as South Africa commence their sixth Test series in India. For a long time, South Africa were the gold standard for touring sides, but now the gulf between the two sides in these conditions is so huge that the absence of the best all-format bowler in the world is not even a big headline.

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India have since gone on to become competitive in all conditions, and efficient and intimidating at home. South Africa have lost many of the players that made them the threat they were at that time. Since November 2015, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have taken 256 wickets between them at home at an average of 20.78. Since India lost the home series to England in 2012-13, after which Ashwin-Jadeja became a duo, India have lost just one home Test out of 29.

South Africa, a team in turmoil, a team that has only five survivors from that last tour when they used to be competitive away from home, are not being reticent but are merely stating facts when they say they have nothing to lose. Their one improvement over the last squad is Keshav Maharaj, easily a much better Test spinner than the ones that toured the last time. But he won't be able to pull off miracles on his own. The South Africans will all have to play out of their skins if they are to win even one Test.

Form guide

India WWDWL (last five Tests, most recent first)
South Africa LLWWW

In the spotlight

R Ashwin is still an India player. You could be forgiven for thinking he wasn't: he last played for India last December. Out of limited-overs cricket, he lost his No. 1 spinner title to Jadeja in the West Indies. He will want to have a thing or two to say about it when he finally gets the SG ball in his hand.

It is a matter of mild surprise that Faf du Plessis is still here, and that too as a captain. South Africa's World Cup exit had strong end-of-era feels to it, which the coming months showed was not unfounded. Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn have retired, AB de Villiers remains retired, coaches are gone, politics is still a big factor. As a captain, du Plessis speaks at press conferences more honestly and openly than many others, and his resignation seemed apparent during the World Cup. It wouldn't have surprised anyone if a worn-down captain had joined the exodus. Instead, he has chosen the cauldron where he will have to lead a young batting line-up. Over to you, Faf. Show us you've still got it.

Team news

Apart from Ashwin, making a comeback after 22 months of international absence is wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. That means Rishabh Pant is out after having scored the first centuries for an India wicketkeeper in England and Australia. The argument is that Saha is more accomplished technically and that will be much more important when it turns at home. Also, Saha has a home Man-of-the-Match award for his batting, so he is no mug on that front either.

Rohit Sharma will begin another attempt at resurrecting a stalled Test career as he converts to an opener.

India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Hanuma Vihari, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ravindra Jadeja, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Mohammed Shami

Faf du Plessis said South Africa were thinking of playing five bowlers, which might send Quinton de Kock up to No. 6, and Theunis de Bruyn is likely to move up to No. 3.

South Africa (probable XI) 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Theunis de Bruyn, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Temba Bavuma, 6 Quinton de Kock (wk), 7 Vernon Philander, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Lungi Ngidi/Anrich Nortje/Senuran Muthusamy, 11 Dane Piedt

Pitch and conditions

Cricket, say hello to climate change. Well past the monsoon season, it is still raining in many parts of India, devastatingly so, and the east coast is particularly unpredictable. There is forecast for some interruption on each of the days, and the pitch preparation is bound to be affected as well. It won't, however, turn into the seaming monster that Eden Gardens became when it rained a lot in the lead-up to the Test against Sri Lanka two years ago. Virat Kohli said it was a typical Vizag pitch, which means slow turn, which South Africa won't like. However, if there is excessive moisture retained, there could be some vicious turn at the start of the Test as evidenced in Bangalore against Australia in 2016-17.

Stats and trivia

• Jadeja is two away from becoming the tenth Indian to take 200 Test wickets. If he does it in this, his 44th, Test, Jadeja will be the second-fastest Indian to mark, behind Ashwin's 37 and ahead of Harbhajan Singh's 46.

• Maharaj needs six more to become the 17th South Africa bowler to take 100 Test wickets.

Quotes

"The credit goes to the team. We laid down a vision in 2015 that we were going to be flexible. We were going to choose sides according to the conditions because we wanted results, we wanted to be successful, we wanted to be at the top of the world. If the team hadn't bought into it, it can become difficult to play with the intent we have played with."
Virat Kohli is happy with where the team is headed since he took over full time in 2015

"It's really exciting. It's something fresh, it's something new. We have played a lot of Test cricket, but this is the first of its kind. Playing India in any conditions is tough, playing them at home is tougher, so it is a nice challenge, but I am more excited about the World Test Championship. Right now we don't know if it is a good or a bad system. It is something you have to go through yourself."
Faf du Plessis loves the extra context

The idea of getting Rohit Sharma to open the batting in Test cricket wasn't a sudden one. According to India captain Virat Kohli, the plan had been brewing among the team management "for a long time".

Rohit has only played four of India's 17 Tests since the start of 2018, a period when he has competed - at various points - with Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya and Hanuma Vihari for one middle-order slot. The thought of making him open was prompted by the desire to give him a sense of clarity about his role in the team.

"This has been discussed for a long time now," Kohli said on the eve of the Visakhapatnam Test against South Africa. "We felt like down the order, it was about finding a spot wherever possible, which wasn't working both ways. For Rohit as well, I think clarity of role and knowing that, you know, you have to play in a certain position also is very crucial for a player.

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"And for us and the management together, the communication happened a long while back. But we could not see a situation where that could happen in the match. But now we have a situation where the opportunity is there. So we thought it's the ideal time to go ahead with it because we have spoken about it.

"And in one-day cricket, it was the same. He played in the middle order, but then suddenly, opening conversation happened and within six to eight months, he was opening the innings. And you know what happened afterwards. So look, it's very exciting for him, for the whole team, if he can do what he's done in one-day cricket at the top and then obviously, it's a great thing for him and Indian cricket."

Kohli said India would not expect instant results from Rohit and give him space and time to find his feet as an opener.

"Look, we're not looking to rush him at all. It's about him finding his game accordingly because in India is it's going to be a different practice that you follow, abroad is going to be different. So opening is a slot where you have to give a player space to understand his own game. So yeah, as I said, we're in no rush. He'll be given space to find his own game and come into his own."

The move from No. 6 to the top of the order would require more of a mental change from Rohit than a technical one, Kohli felt, given that he has the experience of facing the second new ball while batting in the middle order.

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"In Test cricket, even I started at six initially, then came up to four. I think it's more of a mental change," Kohli said. "The moment you convince yourself that, yes, I'm good enough to do this, and once you put that thought in your head, then your game follows accordingly.

"Rohit's in a good space. Playing at number six also requires you to play the [second] new ball every now and then when you walk in. The good thing with opening is that you know you're going to face the new ball. So it's not [if it will be] old ball or new ball. So I think that much clarity the opening slot provides you and as I said, it's about finding your game at the top of the order with the red ball.

"So he's up for the challenge, and we're pretty confident that he will find his game sooner rather than later at the top. And as I said, once he's in his zone, then he can do great things for the team. So that's what we're looking forward to."

India aren't expecting Rohit to bat in any particular manner as an opener, but Kohli said he had the ability to score quickly and put bowling attacks under pressure in the manner of Virender Sehwag.

"In Test cricket, it's about finding your game in different conditions," Kohli said. "Sometimes in India, playing on pitches, say on day one, you know the pitch is good to bat on, you might be playing more shots than you would in say, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England. But having said that, we are not looking at a certain kind of display of batting from Rohit, it's about him finding his game at the top.

"And yes, his strength is to take the game forward. So if he [can bat] like someone like Viru bhai used to do for the team for a long period. So it's not like someone would have told him, you need to go and attack, or you need to get hundred before lunch. Basically, his natural instinct took over. Once he felt comfortable with his game, he would demolish attacks and really put the team in pole position.

"So I'm sure in time, as Rohit grows into that role, he will be able to do that, because he definitely has the ability to do that. And as I said, we are rushing him in no way to do that from innings one or innings two. It's about him feeling comfortable as to when he can do it. And that's been his strength, you won't see Rohit following the template of a [Cheteshwar] Pujara whose strength is totally different.

"It's about finding your own balance, finding your own game, we're not necessarily looking forward to one kind of mode from him at the top, it totally depends on the situation. If the wicket is challenging and we are three down and he is still in, obviously you won't see him smashing the ball all over the place. [He] is a mature cricketer, is smart enough to understand what the situation demands. But yeah, he and the whole team is looking forward to him playing his natural game whenever he feels absolutely comfortable in that spot."

South Africa are readying themselves for a new era in Test cricket. Not only is the three-match series against India their first long-format outing of the World Test Championship or their first under the new coaching structure, it is also the first since the retirements of Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn, the last links to the golden generation who were ranked No.1 in the world. But, for captain Faf du Plessis, that signals an opportunity to deliver a statement of intent. And a strong one at that.

"It's a real good time for me to be involved with a young team," he said at the pre-game press conference in Visakhapatnam. "There's a lot of senior players that are out of our system, our leadership group has changed completely, you've lost all your experience and those players. But what that does, it's a new time for growing new leaders in our team. The next best fast bowlers that's going to come through, they're going to be the next best Hashim Amlas, so it's exciting for me to be working with the young guys in the team."

"There's not a lot of baggage that comes with the guys that are on the tour, and they're also - as most young cricketers are - very motivated and driven to do well" Faf du Plessis

With 58 Test caps to his name, du Plessis is the joint-most senior member of the squad, alongside Vernon Philander. South Africa will look to draw from the experience of Dean Elgar (56 caps) and Quinton de Kock (40 caps) as well, even though de Kock is on his first Test tour to India after being dropped for the 2015 series. Vice-captain Temba Bavuma is the only other batsman to have played Test cricket in India. While all of this leaves presents the picture of a team that may not have enough information about the conditions they will face in the coming weeks, it also means there are fewer memories of the 0-3 series loss from four years ago.

"What Test cricket, in general, does to you that if there is a flaw in your game, or if there is something that you're not quite on top of against an opposition, generally Test cricket exposes that in your game," du Plessis said. "And obviously, last time we came here as a batting unit, and personally myself, finding it very difficult in tough conditions, and it was a fact that I needed to get better from a defensive technical point of view, to adapt to play in tough conditions.

"It was really dry back then, the ball spun a lot. As a batting unit, we found it tough, even though we had lots of experience in our team, and now we've got a completely different unit, you know. It's a very, very young-looking batting line-up, so there's not a lot of baggage that comes with the guys that are on the tour, and they're also - as most young cricketers are - very motivated and driven to do well in international cricket, and this tour will be no different for them."

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Those levels of determination run deep and South Africa have prepared extensively for this tour. Several members of the Test squad, such as Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn, Bavuma and Zubayr Hamza, were involved a spin camp in India, followed by an A team tour. South Africa even added local expertise in the form of batting consultant Amol Muzumdar to the backroom staff, which has added a different perspective to their planning.

"It's been really refreshing having some local knowledge in our dressing room," du Plessis said. "It's just a different mindset, it's a different language, it's different chats that you're not used to, and that's really refreshing no matter how many games you've played. I've enjoyed his time with us, it's been very short, but already some really good conversations."

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But now the time for talking is almost up and South Africa have to show what kind of progress, if any, they have made since they last faced India at home. There is very little expectation of anything but another drubbing, which may only spur du Plessis to try to spring a few surprises.

"It's a challenge, but I've always been the type of person and character that enjoys the challenge, I think it generally brings the best out of me as a personality and as a character, so it's one thing you have to look forward to," du Plessis said. "You can't look at teams that you're playing and see that it's… oh dear, we're playing against some really strong oppositions. You've got to face it head on."

Big Picture

It wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been. At 28 for 5, Sri Lanka were in danger of being crushed by more than 200 runs in the second ODI. Shehan Jayasuriya and Dasun Shanaka dragged Sri Lanka almost back into the game, but the result, in the end, was a comfortable victory for Pakistan.

This is the shape many Sri Lanka matches have taken in the past two years. There have been moments of fight. But they have surrendered too much ground in the remainder of the game for those small passages of brilliance to matter. There is a semblance of respectability to many performances. But victories remain elusive.

With Babar Azam having shown his form has not taken a hit since the end of the World Cup, and even Fakhar Zaman beginning to look ominous, Pakistan are well-placed to keep the pressure on their weakened opposition. Shadab Khan was slightly expensive on Monday, but with the fast bowlers all producing tight spells right through the game, the hosts have no major problems on the bowling front either.

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Form guide

Pakistan WWWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWL

In the spotlight

Usman Shinwari did not feature in the World Cup, but made a big statement on Monday - his 5 for 51 by far the best figures in the match. With Hasan Ali going through a rough patch, and Junaid Khan also out of favour with the selectors, another good performance on Wednesday could help Shinwari make himself part of Pakistan's go-to ODI trio, alongside Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz.

Wanindu Hasaranga took only two wickets in the second ODI, but finds himself in a similar position to Shinwari. Akila Dananjaya - who had been Sri Lanka's top spin option is now suspended for a year, over his action. Sri Lanka are desperately looking for a penetrative limited-overs spinner - one who could play a role in next year's T20 World Cup - and increasingly, Hasaranga fits the bill. It doesn't hurt that he is also a good batsman, but for now, it is with the ball that he most needs to excel to cement a place.

Team news

Lahiru Kumara was expensive and wayward on Monday, and could be replaced by Kasun Rajitha. There isalso a chance Angelo Perera could come into the top order.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Lahiru Thirimanne (capt.), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), 5 Oshada Fernando, 6 Shehan Jayasuriya, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Imam-ul-Haq hurt the webbing in his hand while fielding in the second ODI and spent most of the second innings off the field. If he's ruled out of the third match, Abid Ali will likely replace him.

Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt. & wk), 6 Asif Ali, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Usman Shinwari

Pitch and conditions

A fresh pitch will be provided for the third ODI. Expect a similar surface - one that is reasonably good for batting for 80 overs or so, and takes a little spin, before slowing down towards the end of the game. There's only a small chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

• Babar Azam has been dismissed for less than 60 in only one of his last five innings against Sri Lanka. He has three hundreds in that sequence.

• Babar's also among five batsmen to have scored over 1000 ODI runs this calendar year. Among those batsmen, only Virat Kohli (64.40) has a higher 2019 average than Babar's 62.41.

• Pakistan have now won their seven most-recent (completed) matches against Sri Lanka - a streak that goes back to 2017.

• Shehan Jayasuriya's 96 was not only by far his highest ODI score, it was actually Sri Lanka's seventh-highest individual score in the last 12 months.

Zimbabwe 160 for 6 (Williams 53, Lamichhane 2-27) beat Nepal 120 for 9 (Bhandari 33, Williams 3-21) by 40 runs

Sean Williams was not a happy man as he was presented the Man of the Match trophy on Sunday. Singapore had upset Zimbabwe, winning their first game against a Test nation, and doing so after falling way behind in the game. Williams berated himself for staying at the wicket long enough to finish that game and questioned his team's mental strength after they spurned the upper hand against such an inexperienced team.

Faced with the same odds on Tuesday, when they faced Nepal, who too have been making a lot of waves on their way up to international cricket, Zimbabwe began poorly once again, slipping to 38 for 3 in five overs. But out walked Williams and by sheer force of will took control of the game. He hit 53 off 35 balls with four fours and three sixes to drag Zimbabwe up to 160 for 6 and that was plenty more than enough.

Williams himself was the one ensuring that, taking the new ball and striking in the very first over. His left-arm spin took care of both Nepal openers and by the time he took his third wicket in four overs, the opposition was 111 for 8, way off their target with time running out. After securing their second win in three matches, Zimbabwe are now back on top the T20 tri-series table and will face Singapore again on Thursday.