India will face South Africa in the first Test match of the series played at Centurion from 26th December onwards. It promises to be an exciting series as the Indian team has never won a Test series on South African soil since 1992/93.
India will be playing their 2nd series in the 2023/25 Test Championship cycle. They won the Test series against West Indies by 1-0.
On the other hand, South Africa will look to continue their brilliant run against India at home and make sure that India doesn’t win the Test series this time too.
Match Details
Details– India vs South Africa, 1st Test.
Venue– SuperSport Park, Centurion
Date and Time– 26th-30th December, 1.30 PM
Head-to-Head Record
India and South Africa played a total of 42 Test matches between themselves. Indian team won 15 matches while South Africa registered 17 victories while 10 matches ended in a draw.
India has won 4 Test matches on South African soil in Test matches and would be looking to register their first-ever series win in the final frontier.
Pitch Report
The pitch at SuperSport Park, Centurion is likely to help the pacers which would be tough for the batters. A total of 28 Test matches have been played at this venue with the team batting first has won 13 times while the team batting second winning 12 times 3 matches ending in a draw.
India won their first-ever Test match at Centurion with 113 runs victory in the 2021 series. The last time a Test match was played at Centurion was between SA and West Indies in Feb- March 2023. South Africa registered a thumping 87-run victory. The average first innings total at Centurion is 330 and becomes tough to bat on.
The pitch would become tough to bat on as the cracks would become wider. The captain that wins the toss would likely bat first and then put pressure with top-quality pace bowling.
India (Ind) vs South Africa (SA)- Predicted Playing XI
India
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashavi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/R Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna/Mukesh Kumar, Siraj, Bumrah
South Africa
Dean Elgar, Tony de Zorzi, Keegan Petersen, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma ©, Kyle Verryene, Marco Jansen, Gerlad Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj.
Fantasy Selection- Ind vs SA
Team 1– Rohit Sharma (C), Dean Elgar, Gill, Markram (VC), Shreyas Iyer, Bavuma, Ravindra Jadeja, Marco Jansen, Siraj, Rabada, Bumrah.
Team 2– Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tony de Zorzi, Kohli (C), Keegan Petersen, Bavuma, KL Rahul, Gerlad Coetzee, Shardul Thakur, Ngidi, Bumrah, Maharaj.
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