India will take on South Africa in a 3-match Test series starting 26th of December.
India have never won a Test series against South Africa in South Africa.
Let's have a look at head-to-head records
Head-to-Head (Series)
14 series played
7 won by South Africa
4 won by India
3 drawn
Head-to-Head (Matches)
39 matches played
14 won by India
15 won by South Africa
10 drawn
Previous Results
Last time when both these sides faced each other in a Test series, India whitewashed South Africa 3-0 at home.
Last time when both these sides faced each other on the African soil, South Africa won the series by 2-1.
Challenges
South Africa has always been the toughest challenge for team India in Tests as India have never won a Test series in South Africa. Infact, they have won just 3 matches out of the 20 they have played in South Africa. India have failed to win in South Africa even when they had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan, S Ganguly.
India will be playing their 8th Test series in South Africa and this time around Virat led team India have the best chance to create history by winning their first ever Test series on the African soil.
Other than winning the series, 36 World Test Championship points are also at stake and the WTC runners-up will hope to get at least 16 to 24 points to stay in strong contention of making it to the final yet again.
South Africa haven't played a single series ever since the beginning of 2nd World Test Championship cycle (2021-2023). This will be their first series and they would like to make the most of it with the home advantage on their side.
Players to watch out for
1) Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli scored his highest score (153) on the South African soil at the Centurion, where the 1st Test will take place.
Virat Kohli hasn't scored a century for a period of more than 2 years now and with all the fuss going around him and BCCI, he will be eager to roar back with a century. He has pretty good records in South Africa and most probably he will have his best tour in Tests in South Africa as he has to be the one to make a difference between these two sides.
2) Kagiso Rabada
This will be first time in South Africa that Rabada will be leading the South African pace attack against India, Rabada will be a big threat for Rohit-less Indian side and form less Rahane and Pujara. Rabada is a rhythm bowler and if he gets going then India may have to face difficulties scoring 250. Kagiso Rabada has taken 213 wickets in 47 matches and if he takes 12 more wickets then he will overtake Vernon Philander to become the 7th all-time highest wicket taker in Tests for South Africa.
3) Mohammed Shami
Last time when India toured South Africa for a Test series, Shami was the leading wicket taker with 15 wickets in just 3 games. He was one of the main reasons behind India's only win in that series, his magical spell of 5/28 in the 4th innings of the 3rd Test helped India clinch the 3rd Test.
Shami has just gone to another level ever since then and hasn't really looked back. He's got pace and swing and has also taken his fitness to another level so it will be a tough task for South Africa to stop Shami from destroying their lineup.
4) Aiden Markram
Aiden is probably the most technically sound batsman in this South African lineup. He will be donning the opening duties for South Africa in the series against India. With opening in countries like South Africa, England and New Zealand a difficult task which needs strong technique and patience to survive.
Markram in his last 6 Test games have scored 400 runs at an average of 45. He's got 3 fifties and 1 fine hundred to his name in these games.
STATISTICS
Here's the list of highest run getter for both the teams in the clashes against each other.
For India, Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run getter of all time with 1741 runs to his name in 25 Tests which have come at an average of 42.46. He has 7 centuries and 5 half centuries to his name against South Africa.
If we talk about active players, Virat Kohli leads the chart with 1075 to his name in 12 Tests. He averages 59.72 against them and has scored 3 centuries and 3 half centuries.
For South Africa, the all-time highest run getter is Jacques Kallis who has scored 1734 runs in 18 Tests at a whopping average of 69.36 with 7 centuries and 5 half centuries.
Among active players, Dean Elgar is the highest run scorer for South Africa with 576 runs in 10 matches.
Most runs in a single series in India vs South Africa Test series in South Africa (overall):
1. JH Kallis 498 (5 innings)
2. Sachin Tendulkar 386 (6 innings)
3. HH Gibbs 316 (4 innings)
4. AG Prince 306 (6 innings)
5. BM McMillan 296 (6 innings)
6. KC Wessels 295 (8 innings)
7. DJ Cullinan 291 (6 innings)
8. Virat Kohli 286 (6 innings)
9. Cheteshwar Pujara 280 (4 innings)
10. Rahul Dravid 277 (6 innings)
Most runs in India vs South Africa Test series in South Africa (overall):
Sachin Tendulkar 1161
Jacques Kallis 974
AB De Villiers 704
Rahul Dravid 624
HM Amla 587
VVS Laxman 566
Highest average in India vs South Africa Test series in South Africa (overall) (minimum 4 innings):
JH Kallis- 81.16
BM Mcmillan- 61.25
G Gambhir- 60.50
V Kohli- 55.80
AG Prince- 53.37
A Rahane- 53.20
Top 5 wicket taker for India against South Africa in South Africa
A Kumble - 45 wickets
J Srinath - 43 wickets
Z Khan - 30 wickets
S Sreesanth - 27 wickets
M Shami - 21 wickets
Top 5 wicket takers for South Africa against India in South Africa
A Donald - 40 wickets
S Pollock - 39 wickets
D Steyn - 39 wickets
M Morkel - 37 wickets
V Philander - 25 wickets
Highest Test partnership for India in South Africa
222 - Sachin/Azharuddin
222 - Kohli/Pujara
220 - Sachin/Sehwag
176 - Sachin/Gambhir
172 - Sachin/Dhoni
Team News
Indian team will go into the 3-match Test series without world's number 3 Test all-rounder (Ravindra Jadeja) and number 5 Test batsman (Rohit Sharma). Team India will also miss the services of Shubman Gill and Axar Patel on this tour. Earlier Rohit was named as vice-captain of this team but due to his unavailability owing to injury, KL Rahul will be the vice-captain. This move also raised questions on Ajinkya Rahane's future as a Test player.
South Africa, on the other hand will go into the series without one of their premier pacer in the form of Anrich Nortje. Apart from Nortje, their squad is pretty much the same as the one which defeated West Indies by 2-0.
India Test Squad:
Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul (VC), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Priyank Panchal.
South Africa Test Squad:
Dean Elgar (C), Temba Bavuma (VC), Quinton De Kock (WK), Kagiso Rabada, Sarel Erwee, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Glenton Stuurman, Prenelan Subrayen, Sisanda Magala, Ryan Rickelton, Duanne Olivier.
WHEN, WHERE & HOW TO WATCH?
The venue for the first Test is SuperSport Park at Centurion. The match will begin at 1:30pm (IST). The live streaming would be available on the Hotstar App and it would be televised on the Star Sports Network.
Predicted SA 11
1) Dean Elgar (C)
2) A Markram
3) K Petersen
4) R van der Dussen
5) T Bavuma (VC)
6) Q De Kock (WK)
7) W Mulder
8) K Maharaj
9) K Rabada
10) L Ngidi
11) D Olivier
Predicted IND 11
1) KL Rahul (VC)
2) M Agarwal
3) C Pujara
4) V Kohli (C)
5) H Vihari
6) R Pant (WK)
7) R Ashwin
8) S Thakur
9) M Shami
10) J Bumrah
11) M Siraj
Dream 11 Team
1) Q de Kock
2) D Elgar
3) A Markram
4) C Pujara (VC)
5) V Kohli (C)
6) R Pant (WK)
7) R van der Dussen
8) R Ashwin
9) M Shami
10) S Thakur
11) K Rabada
Prediction
Our prediction is for India to win the Test series by 2-1.
