India tour of South Africa 2021: Virat Kohli's men to play 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 4 T20Is in the rainbow nation this winter
The schedule for the much-awaited India tour of South Africa later this year has been announced by the Graeme Smith-led Cricket South Africa (CSA).
Virat Kohli's men will travel to the rainbow nation to feature in three ICC World Test Championship Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is in the month of December and January this winter.
India's tour will be preceded by their A side's sojourn to the African nation. The Indian A team will play three four-day games at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein between November 26 and December 13.
The senior team will kick-start their tour with a three-match Test series on December 17.
While Johannesburg will host the first and third Tests between December 17-21 and January 3-7, the Boxing Day Test will take place at SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Can Team India script history in South Africa this time around?
The Test series will be followed by seven white-ball games - three ODIs and four T20Is - which will be hosted by Paarl and Cape Town.
While Paarl will host the ODI series opener and the final two T20Is, Cape Town will play host to the last couple of 50-over games and the first two T20Is. The ODI series will take place on January 11, 13 and 16, and the T20Is will take place between January 19 and 26.
The upcoming tour will be yet another golden opportunity for Team India to win their maiden Test series in the rainbow nation.
India last toured South Africa in 2018 and while they fought valiantly on difficult pitches, the visitors eventually fell short, losing 2-1 in a three-match series.
With the leading players from that series no longer around for the Proteas, the tourists will fancy their chances of breaking a 29-year-old drought.
South Africa is the only Test-playing nation where India are yet to win a series in the longest format. India will hope to do an encore of what they did in Australia in 2018, when they became the first team from the country to stage a triumph Down Under.
India will also be looking to replicate the good work that they did during the white-ball leg of the 2018 tour. The tourists scripted history back in 2018 as they notched up their maiden ODI series win by a comprehensive margin of 5-1.
India tour of South Africa 2021-22 schedule:
1st Test - December 17-21, Imperial Wanderers, Johannesburg
2nd Test - December 26-30, SuperSport Park, Centurion
3rd Test - January 03-07, Imperial Wanderers, Johannesburg
1st ODI - January 11, Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl
2nd ODI - January 14, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
3rd ODI - January 16, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
1st T20I - January 19, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
2nd T20I - January 21, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town
3rd T20I - January 23, Eurolux Boland Park,
4th T20I - January 26, Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl