South Africa v India 2023 schedule released

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South Africa v India 2023 schedule will include two Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs in December later this year and January 2024.

Indian men’s cricket team is scheduled to tour the rainbow nation later this year for an all-format series. On this tour, they will play a two-match Test series, which will also mark the beginning of South Africa’s 2023-2025 World Test Championship cycle.

The two Tests will be hosted during the traditional Boxing Day and New Year period. The Boxing Day Test will be hosted at SuperSport Park in Centurion while the New Year’s Test returns to Newlands, Cape Town. In 2021, the New Year’s Test was played at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg while last year the Proteas were on the tour of Australia.

This will be India’s second series in the WTC cycle, after their ongoing Tests against West Indies. South Africa haven’t played in the longer format since their 2-0 series victory over West Indies at home in March this year. The Tests will be played at the end of the tour, following three T20Is and three ODIs.

“This is an important tour for both teams and I am really pleased that we will have a full tour comprising all three formats of the game. The tour also allows us to showcase the best of South Africa and we have spread out matches across the nation,” Lawson Naidoo, CSA chair, said in a statement.

Due to the sheer popularity of Indian cricket and the volume of Indian fans, the matches against them are always a money-making opportunity for the boards. South Africa’s five big venues namely SuperSport Park, the Wanderers, Kingsmead, St George’s Park and Newlands will all get to host the matches on this India’s tour. Boland Park will also get some action but there are no matches planned in the country’s central region, comprising Bloemfontein and Kimberley. Durban has a significant portion of the Indian diaspora based in South Africa but will only host one match.

The last time India toured South Africa was in December 2021 to early January 2022, during the previous WTC cycle. India claimed the first Test in Centurion by 113 runs, but lost the next two by identical margins of seven wickets in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Despite that series defeat, India made it to the WTC final, where they lost to Australia while South Africa narrowly missed out, finishing third on the table.

Apart from the South Africa v India 2023 schedule, the Men in Green don’t have any men’s international cricket scheduled in the 2023-24 summer. They are slated to host Australia in August-September for three T20Is and five ODIs. That limited overs series will be followed by the SA20. After the India series, South Africa will travel to New Zealand for two Tests before a series against West Indies away from home.

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