India vs South Africa

                                  India vs South Africa

South Africa are scheduled to tour India for three T20 internationals and as many test matches from September 15 till October 23. The T20Is will kick off the month-long tour followed by the three-match test series from October 2. The entire tour will be played across six different venues - the T20I series will be hosted by Dharamsala, Mohali and Bengaluru while the tests will be hosted by Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi.

VENUE 

Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium

Visakhapatnam

STATS - TEST

Total matches	1
Matches won batting first	1
Average 1st Inns scores	455
Average 2nd Inns scores	255
Average 3rd Inns scores	204
Average 4th Inns scores	158
Highest total recorded	455/10 (129.4 Ov) by IND vs ENG
Lowest total recorded	158/10 (97.3 Ov) by ENG vs IND

ND vs SA Head-to-Head in Tests

South Africa have the upper hand when it comes to head-to-head record against India in the longest format of the game. The two countries have played 13 test series against each other till now with the Proteas winning seven of them and the hosts only three. South Africa emerged victorious 2-1 in the most recent series between the two sides which was played last year in January in South Africa.

India - Preview and Performance

IND Team News

Virat Kohli will be leading India's 15-man squad for the three-match T20 international series. In their quest of finding back-up bowling options ahead of next year's T20 World Cup in Australia, the home team has rested two of its frontline seamers in Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar along with the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini form India's inexperienced pace attack while Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya and Washington Sundar make up the spin department. MS Dhoni continues to remain out of action while all-rounder Hardik Pandya returns to the side.

India have named a 15-man squad for the three-match test series versus South Africa and have retained majority of the players who were part of the test squad that toured the West Indies recently. Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the T20I series, has now been ruled out of the tests with a minor stress fracture of the back. Umesh Yadav has been called up as his replacement. The selectors have dropped KL Rahul and have shown faith in young Shubman Gill who has received his maiden test call-up. Rohit Sharma, who did not feature in the test series against the Windies, has been confirmed as an 

IND T20 Key Players

India will look to their stalwarts - Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan - to make strong contributions with the bat. Rahul and Rohit are both amongst the world's top ten batsmen in T20 cricket and so there will be high expectations on them. Captain Kohli, who has 21 half-centuries under his belt, will look to add to that tally while Shikhar Dhawan is another attacking batsman who can score big at the top of the order.

India's T20 bowling unit is devoid of the big names and so it will be up to the likes of Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Hardik and Krunal Pandya to take wickets and apply pressure on the Proteas. Navdeep finished as the best bowler in the recent T20I series against the West Indies with five wickets at an economy of 7.09 and he will be backed by the home team to strike in the powerplay. Krunal Pandya, with his left-arm spin, will also pose a threat to the South African batsmen in these conditions.

IND Test Key Players

Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma are the big guns in India's batting unit and it will be mainly up to them to ensure that their team gets into a position of strength. Kohli is the world's second-best batsman in test cricket and the skipper will be expected to lead from the front. Rahane was very impressive in the West Indies where he finished as one of the leading run-scorers.

With Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of the series, India's bowling will rely on the likes of Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma who had an excellent test series against the Windies in which he took eleven wickets. Ashwin has taken the most wickets in the format from the current squad and he is likely to trouble a lot of South African batsmen in these conditions.

IND T20 Recent Form

India have won eight, drawn one and lost only two of their last eleven T20 international series. After the 1-1 draw in Australia last year, they suffered back-to-back series losses - against New Zealand 1-2 and against Australia 0-2. India's most recent T20I assignment came only last month against the West Indies whom they swept 3-0.

IND Test Recent Form

India have been dominant in test cricket over the past few years. They have won four of their last five series and their last three in a row. Since suffering an embarrassing 1-4 loss in England, India have beaten the West Indies 2-0 at home and Australia 2-1 in Australia at the start of this year before sweeping the Windies again in their latest test assignment last month.

South Africa - Preview and Performance

SA Team News

Quinton de Kock will skipper South Africa's 14-man T20I squad while Faf du Plessis, who has been left out of the game's shortest version, will be in charge of the team's 15-man squad for the test series. The touring side has named Rassie van der Dussen as the vice-captain for the T20 series while Temba Bavuma has been appointed Faf's deputy for the tests. Wicketkeeper Rudi Second, who was initially named in the test squad, has been ruled out of the tour after suffering an injury during a practice match while playing for South Africa A. The selectors have roped in Heinrich Klaasen as a like-for-like replacement. All-rounder Chris Morris has made himself unavailable for the entire tour. Anrich Nortje, Temba Bavuma and Bjorn Fortuin are three fresh faces in the T20I squad.

SA T20 Key Players

Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller are the big guns in this South African batting line-up. Hendricks topped the runs charts and cracked a couple of fifties in the recent home series against Sri Lanka and he will be expected to carry that form into this series. Quinton de Kock will probably open the batting and he can be very destructive if not dismissed early on in his innings. Rassie van der Dussen has been very consistent of late while Miller is a very dangerous batsman down the order.

South Africa will depend mainly on Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala and Tabraiz Shamsi to deliver the goods with the ball. Phehlukwayo is amongst the world's top ten T20I bowlers and he was the leading wicket-taker against Sri Lanka with seven wickets. Rabada will be leading the team's pace attack and he could trouble the Indian batsmen with the new ball.

SA Test Key Players 

In terms of batting, South Africa will look to their stalwarts in Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock and TembaBavuma to play the big innings. Quinton de Kock is coming off a great T20I series. The wicketkeeper scored 52 and a match-winning 79 in the respective matches and the team will want him to carry that form into test cricket. Faf du Plessis is one of the most experienced batsmen in the side and the captain hit a couple of fifties in South Africa's last test series against Sri Lanka.

With the ball, the Proteas will need their strike bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Lungi Ngidi to be at their best. Rabada is the second-best test bowler in the world and it will be crucial that he provides the early breakthroughs with the new ball. Philander has the ability to swing the ball both ways and he too will be a big threat for the Indian batsmen.

SA T20 Recent Form

South Africa have been impressive in the shortest format of the game over the past couple of years. They have won six of their last nine T20 international series including the previous four on the bounce. The Proteas played their most recent series earlier this year in March. It was a series of three matches against Sri Lanka at home which they won 3-0.

SA Test Recent Form

South Africa have had plenty of success of late in the game's longest format. They have won five of their last seven test series albeit most of them have been played at home. The Proteas, however, have lost the last two series they have played away from home - they lost to England 1-3 in 2017 and against Sri Lanka 0-2 last year. Their most recent test series came against Sri Lanka at home in February which they lost 0-2.

IND vs SA Test Series Prediction

South Africa will be taking plenty of confidence with them after thrashing India in the final T20I and denying them a series victory. Both are top-ranked teams in the format - while the hosts are currently the best test team in the world, the visitors are third in the ICC test rankings. Both have been performing very well and so one can expect this to be a closely-contested series. However, beating India in their own backyard will not be an easy task for the Proteas. India have a mighty record at home; they have won each of their last ten series here and they last lost a series way back in 2012 - against England. Even though the Virat Kohli-led side has lost its ace paceman Jasprit Bumrah due to injury, it still looks formidable enough to overpower South Africa in this test series.