South Africa v India: The Ultimate Guide

India are touring South Africa for the first time in four years, their last tour in 2017/18 ending with a 2-1 Test victory in the Proteas' favour and a 5-1 ODI victory and 2-1 T20I victory in India's favour.

The cricketing action will kick off with a three-match Test series, the first of which begins on Boxing Day on 26 December in Centurion. After the Tests end on 15 January 2022, the three ODIs will be played on 19, 21 and 23 January.

Fans in select regions will be able to subscribe to watch it all on ICC.tv

India's tour of South Africa will be available to stream on ICC.tv for free for registered users in Europe, as well as other regions that do not currently have a broadcast partner. Registration is free of cost.

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Test Squads:

**South Africa:**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

**India:**Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul (vc), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj

Fixtures

First Test: 26-30 December – SuperSport Park, Centurion

Second Test: 03-07 January – The Wanderers, Johannesburg

Third Test: 11-15 January – Newlands, Cape Town

First ODI: 19 January – Boland Park, Paarl

Second ODI: 21 January – Boland Park, Paarl

Third ODI: 23 January – Newlands, Cape Town

The format

The three-Test series will be a part of the current ICC World Test Championship cycle.

Under the new points system of the World Test Championship, each match is allotted a total of 12 points, irrespective of the length of the series. A win fetches the team 12 points while a tie or a draw is 6 points and 3 points respectively.

India are currently fourth on the WTC23 table while South Africa are yet to start their campaign this season.

The Tests will be followed by a three-match ODI series, with the matches forming a part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, where India are ranked fifth, while South Africa are ranked ninth.

Remember the last time

The last time South Africa played India in a bilateral series was in 2019/20, India dominating at home with a comprehensive 3-0 victory in Tests. The T20I series was tied at 1-1. However, India have a poorer record in South Africa, not having won a single Test series in the seven they have played there since 1992/93.

On India's previous tour of South Africa, they lost the Test series 2-1. South African won the first Test in Cape Town by 72 runs, a low-scoring encounter. After making 286 in the first innings with solid fifties from AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, India were bowled out for 209, with a stunning performance by the Proteas fast bowlers. Despite being routed for 130 in the second innings, a magical 6-for spell by Philander helped them bowl out India for 135 to take series lead.

The second Test in Centurion was also dominated by the hosts. Aiden Markram and Hashim Amla starred in South Africa's 335-run first-innings total. The Proteas got a slim 28-run lead, which they extended, setting India a target of 287. A brilliant six-wicket haul from Lungi Ngidi rattled the visitors, handing South Africa a 135-run victory.

India, however, managed to turn things around in the final Test at the Wanderers, winning by 63 runs, largely thanks to Bhuvneshwar Kumar's all-round performance. After being bowled out for 187 and conceding South Africa a lead of seven runs, India made 247 in the second innings. With a target of 241 runs and despite Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla's century-stand for the second wicket, a collective performance from India's pace battery bowled out the hosts for 177.

Fans in select regions will be able to subscribe to watch it all on ICC.tv