Although the shocking defeat of India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final may have disappointed Indian fans, the cricket action didn’t stop for long. Australia and a youthful Men in Blue team, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, played a five-match Twenty20 International series at home and won. The caravan will proceed to South Africa for a comprehensive tour that will feature duels in each of the three forms shortly after.
There will be two Test matches, three ODIs, and three T20Is during India’s 2023–24 trip to South Africa. Test cricket will take center stage after the T20Is and ODIs, which are scheduled for December 10–21. The first Test match will take place at Centurion’s SuperSport Park on December 26. The second five-day match will take place at Cape Town’s Newlands Cricket Ground on January 3.
South Africa is still India’s last frontier in red-ball cricket. It is the only nation that plays professional cricket and where India has not yet won a Test series. Under MS Dhoni’s guidance, the visitors came very close in 2010–11 but were unable to complete the race as the third and decisive Test finished in a draw. This time, the top-ranked Test team in the world will aim to right the wrongs and make history.
This will be Rahul Dravid’s first Test series assignment when his contract is renewed as the head coach of India, it has been revealed. He and captain Rohit Sharma will be the center of attention when it comes to their tactics in this difficult tournament. Senior professionals Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have requested to be rested for the T20I and ODI series between India and South Africa, but they will both return for the two Test matches.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
India has played 42 Test matches against South Africa so far, winning 15 of them. Ten of the games resulted in draws, with the Proteas emerging victorious 17 times. India has won three of the last five meetings between the two teams, while South Africa has won two of them.
South Africa will host the IND vs RSA Test series from December 26, 2023, to January 7, 2023. This is the entire schedule, with all times in IST:
First Test: at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 26 at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Second Test: at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 3 at Newlands, Cape Town.
In India, the Star Sports Network will air the Test series.
The Disney+Hotstar app and website will stream the matches live.