India will tour South Africa in January 2018 to play Test and limited overs series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in association with Cricket South Africa (CSA) announce the upcoming India's tour of South Africa starting January 5, 2018," BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a media advisory last night (September 20).
India were originally scheduled to play four Tests but will now feature in only three for the "Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela" trophy. They will also play six One Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals. The venues and dates will be confirmed later, BCCI said.
"India arrives in South Africa on 28 December and their tour will start with a two-day practice match at Boland Park on December 30 and 31. The first Test match is at PPC Newlands starting on January 5," CSA said.
Also read: India-Australia series schedule
"India will play South Africa in a three-match 'Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela' Test series, six-match One-Day International series followed by three Twenty20 Internationals. The dates and venues for the fixtures will be confirmed shortly," Choudhary added.
India last travelled to South Africa in 2013 when they lost the two-Test rubber 0-1. The hosts also won the ODI series 2-0. The Proteas had visited India in 2015 when they were beaten 0-3 in the four-match series. However, they won both ODI (3-2) and T20I (2-0) trophies.
In the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Test Rankings, India are at number one position while South Africa are second.
Indian Test team recently whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 and also completed clean sweeps in ODIs (5-0) and T20I (1-0) in the island nation.
With the Test side on high with victories at home and in Sri Lanka, the big test for India will come in foreign conditions, according to several experts. India have never won a Test series in South Africa.
Virat Kohli-led India are currently hosting Australia in a five-match ODI series. The second game is in Kolkata today (September 21). They won the opener in Chennai on Sunday (September 17).
