South Africa has announced the squad for the Test series against India. The team will be captained by Dean Elgar, while Temba Bavuma has been made the vice-captain. India has to play a series of 3 Tests and 3 ODIs during this period starting from 26 December. There are many new names in the 21-man squad. Sisanda Magala and Ryan Rickelton have been included for the first time, while Oliver has joined the squad.
It is noteworthy that Cricket South Africa on Monday released the updated schedule of the home series against India. India was earlier to play the T20 series on this tour as well, but this series was postponed after the outbreak of the new variant Omicron of Corona. Apart from this, the tour was postponed for a week. According to the new schedule released by CSK, the Boxing Day Test will be held from December 26, which was earlier to be held from December 17.
The first test match of the series will be played at Centurion’s SuperSport Park, while the second and third test matches will be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. The second Test match of the series will be played from 3 to 7 January 2022, while the third and last Test will be held from 11 to 15 January. After this a 3-match ODI series will be played. The ODI series will be held from January 19 to 23. The first two ODIs of the series will be played in Paarl while the third and last ODI will be played in Cape Town.
South Africa Team: Dean Elgar (capt), Viaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Keegan Pietersen, Quinton de Kock, Rasi van der Dusen, Kagiso Rabada, Sarel Irvi, Beuran Hendrix, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Kyle Verrin , Marco Janssen, Glenton Sturman, P. Subrian, Sisanda Magala, Ryan Rickelton, Dunn Oliver.
The schedule of the three-match Test series between India vs South Africa is as follows:-
- First Test- 26-30 December, Centurion, Time-1.30 PM (Indian Time)
- 2nd Test- January 03-07, Johannesburg, Time-1.30 hrs (Indian Time)
- Third Test – January 11-15, Cape Town, 2.00 pm (Indian time)
Schedule of 3 match ODI series between India vs South Africa
- 1st ODI – January 19, Paarl, Time – 2.00 PM
- 2nd ODI – January 21, Paarl, Time – 2.00 PM
- Third ODI – January 23, Cape Town, time – 2.00 p.m.
Rohit can be made vice captain
On the other hand, the Test series is a part of the ICC World Test Championship. The Indian team for this series is going to be announced soon. Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara will retain their place in the Test team but Rohit can be made the vice-captain in this format. Rahane, who has been in poor form, however, will find it difficult to find a place in the playing XI. With the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill in excellent form, it will not be easy for the experienced Rahane to find a place in the playing XI with middle-order options like Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari.
In the absence of the seniors, Shreyas Iyer got his debut in this series and he scored a century in his very first Test played in Kanpur. Mayank Agarwal, who returned to the opening again, also regained momentum and became the man of the match due to his performance in the Mumbai Test. Now the question is, what will happen to Mayank and Shreyas when Rohit returns in the opening and Rahul in the middle?
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