India vs South Africa in Tests: History in numbers

South Africa, at present, are the No.1 Test side in the Cricket world. The No.1 ODI team, India, after Sachin’s retirement in Tests and losing the ODI series against the Proteas are set to play a two test match series in South Africa.

MS Dhoni and Graeme Smith with the Test trophy

Below are the numbers between these two nations.

Head to Head Summary

	Total	Ind	SA	Drawn
Overall	27	7	12	8
In Ind	12	5	5	2
In SA	15	2	7	6

South Africa has been more successful in their home than the Indian team in its home. South Africa won test matches regularly in India than India in South Africa. India, in their first 3 tours, couldn’t win even a single game. They managed to win 2 Tests in their last 2 tours.

Series Results in South Africa

Period	Winner	Margin	Tests	Captains	Player of the Series
1992/93	SA	1-0	4	KC Wessels, M Azharuddin	AA Donald
1996/97	SA	2-0	3	WJ Cronje, SR Tendulkar	AA Donald
2001/02	SA	1-0	2	SM Pollock, SC Ganguly	HH Gibbs
2006/07	SA	2-1	3	GC Smith, R Dravid	SM Pollock
2010/11	Drawn	1-1	3	GC Smith, MS Dhoni	JH Kallis

Series Results in India

Period	Winner	Margin	Tests	Captains	Player of the Series
1996/97	Ind	2-1	3	SR Tendulkar, WC Cronje	M Azharuddin
1999/00	SA	2-0	2	SR Tendulkar, WC Cronje	JH Kallis
2004/05	Ind	1-0	2	SC Ganguly, GC Smith	V Sehwag
2007/08	Drawn	1-1	3	A Kumble (2)/MS Dhoni (1), GC Smith	Harbhajan Singh
2009/10	Drawn	1-1	2	MS Dhoni, GC Smith	HM Amla

MS Dhoni will be the first Indian to captain two Test Series in South Africa. Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid captained one.

Total Series: 10

India Won: 2

SA Won: 5

Drawn: 3

Highest Team Totals

Score	Overs	Team	Mat Inn	Venue	Match Date	Result
643/6 d	153.0	India	2	Kolkata	14 Feb 2010	Won
627	155.1	India	2	Chennai	26 Mar 2008	Drawn
620/4 d	130.1	South Africa	2	Centurion	16 Dec 2010	Won
563	143.0	South Africa	2	Bloemfontein	03 Nov 2001	Won
558/6 d	176.0	South Africa	1	Nagpur	06 Feb 2010	Won

Lowest Team Totals

Score	Overs	Team	Mat Inn	Venue	Match Date	Result
66	34.1	India	4	Durban	26 Dec 1996	Lost
76	20.0	India	1	Ahmedabad	03 Apr 2008	Lost
84	25.1	South Africa	2	Johannesburg	15 Dec 2006	Lost
100	39.1	India	2	Durban	26 Dec 1996	Lost
105	38.5	South Africa	4	Ahmedabad	20 Nov 1996	Lost

Largest Wins

Criteria	Margin	Winner	Venue	Match Date	MOM
By Runs	329 runs	South Africa	Kolkata	27 Nov 1996	G Kirsten
By Inns	Inns & 90 runs	South Africa	Ahmedabad	03 Apr 2008	AB de Villiers
By Wkts	9 wkts	South Africa	Port Elizabeth	26 Dec 1992	AA Donald
By Wkts	9 wkts	South Africa	Bloemfontein	03 Nov 2001	SM Pollock

The Highest Successful run chase is 211/5 by South Africa at Cape Town in 2007. India have never won any match by chasing in the 4th inning whereas South Africa won 4.

Largest win for India being their Inn & 52 runs win at Kolkata in 2010, by 280 runs at Kanpur in 1996 and by 8 wickets at Kolkata in 2004 & Kanpur in 2008.

Individual Players and Captains

Most Matches		Most Matches as Captain
25	SR Tendulkar (Ind)	13	GC Smith (SA)
21	RS Dravid (Ind)	8	WJ Cronje (SA)
21	A Kumble (Ind)	8	SR Tendulkar (Ind)
19	VVS Laxman (Ind)	6	MS Dhoni (Ind)

Most Matches by a South African is 16 by JH Kallis.

Batting Records:

Tendulkar and Kallis hold most of the batting records in Tests between these two nations

The respective batting legends, Tendulkar and Kallis, top the list of most runs between the two nations and also have scored most centuries.

Leading Run Getters

Runs	Batsman	Mat	Inns	Avg	100s	50	Best
1741	SR Tendulkar	25	45	42.46	7	5	169
1585	JH Kallis	16	28	72.04	6	5	201*
1306	V Sehwag	15	26	50.23	5	2	319
1252	R Dravid	21	40	33.83	2	5	148
1164	HM Amla	12	21	61.26	5	4	253*

Most runs by a South African in India is 823 by Hashim Amla @ 102.87 in 10 innings with 4 100s.
Most runs by an Indian in South Africa is 1161 by Sachin Tendulkar @ 46.44 in 28 innings with 5 100s.

Highest Batting Average (Min 500 runs)
72.04 – JH Kallis
61.26 – HM Amla
52.92 – DJ Cullinan
50.23 – V Sehwag
43.33 – L Klusener