The Indian cricket team will go to South Africa in the upcoming month of December 2023 for playing 2 test matches in bilateral series. The schedule and venues of the matches have already been confirmed by the Indian and South African cricket boards in the mid of July 2023. The 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship will incorporate this South Africa vs India test series 2023 as an essential component.
The test series between South Africa and India is called the Friendship series, paying tribute to the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The SA vs Ind test series 2023 will commence on 26 December with the first test at Centurion Park, Centurion, and then the last test of the series will be contested from 33 January to 7 January 2023 at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town.
Most probably, the present skipper of the Indian test team, Rohit Sharma will take responsibility for the captaincy in the upcoming test series under the mentorship of Rahul Dravid. On the other hand, South Africa will enter the series under the captaincy of Temba Bavuma and Shukri Conrad take charge as head coach. In terms of test ranking, India is holding the top position as of August 2023 and South Africa is sitting in the 4th position.
The last time India went to South Africa for the test series (Freedom series) was in 2021/22 where the result went in the favor of South Africa as they won the series by 2-1. In that series, Keegan Petersen became the top run-maker with 276 runs, and Kagiso Rabada emerged as the top wicket-taker with 20 wickets.
In terms of head-to-head in test matches, South Africa and India have engaged in 42 test matches where South Africa won 17 tests and faced defeat in 15 test matches. Overall, South Africa has appeared in 460 tests where they achieved victory in 177 while losing 158 tests. On the other hand, India has contested 672 tests in which they won 173 and lost 176 matches. Since 1992, India has never been able to win a test series in South Africa, so it would be interesting to watch how India will perform on overseas pitches in the upcoming series.