The

India cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

toured South Africa from December 2021 and January 2022 to play three

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and three One Day International (ODI) matches. The Test matches formed part of the 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship. India won the first Test by 113 runs, to win their first-ever Test match at

Centurion Park Centurion Park is a cricket ground in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa. It is also known as SuperSport Park since television company Supersport bought shares in the stadium. The capacity of the ground is 22,000. The Titans cricket team have pl ...

. It was also

Quinton de Kock Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in limited overs cricket, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Gian ...

's final Test match, after he announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect following the conclusion of the match. South Africa won the second Test by seven wickets to level the series. It was the first time that South Africa had beaten India in a Test match at the

Wanderers Stadium The Wanderers Stadium (Imperial Wanderers due to sponsorship reasons and affectionately known as the Bullring due to its intimidating atmosphere) is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South ...

. South Africa won the third and final Test, also by seven wickets, to win the series 2–1. The day after the end of the third match,

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (; born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the India national cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Kohli plays as a right-handed batter for Royal Challe ...

announced that he had stepped down as India's captain in Test cricket. South Africa won the first ODI match by 31 runs, with an unbeaten century by

Rassie van der Dussen Hendrik Erasmus "Rassie" van der Dussen (born 7 February 1989) is a South African professional cricketer who represents the South Africa national cricket team and plays for Gauteng in domestic cricket. In the 2018 ''South African Cricket Annua ...

. South Africa won the second ODI by seven wickets to win the series with a match to spare. South Africa won the final ODI by four runs, winning the series 3–0.

Background

In November 2021,

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa (CSA) is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South Afr ...

confirmed that due to restrictions in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, the third Test had been moved from the

to the

Newlands Cricket Ground Newlands Cricket Ground (known as Six Gun Grill Newlands for sponsorship reasons) in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It is the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the Sunfoil Series, Momentum 1 Day Cup and RamSlam Pro20 compet ...

. Due to a new variant of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

detected in Southern Africa, a

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

(BCCI) official stated that it would re-evaluating whether the series will be held once they "get a detailed picture of the ground situation from Cricket South Africa." On 2 December 2021, India's Test captain

said that the team would have "absolute clarity" regarding the tour in "a day or two or pretty soon". On 4 December 2021, both boards agreed to a new tour schedule, starting slightly later than originally planned. On 6 December 2021, the new tour schedule was confirmed. The tour was also scheduled to include four

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) matches, but these were postponed, with Cricket South Africa saying these would be "rescheduled for a more opportune time". On 20 December 2021, both cricket boards agreed to play the tour behind closed doors, following an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Squads

In December 2021, it was announced that South Africa's

would miss at least the third Test of the tour due to him taking paternity leave.

Anrich Nortje Anrich Arno Nortje (born 16 November 1993) is a South African professional cricketer. He made his international debut for the South Africa cricket team in March 2019. In July 2020, Nortje was named the newcomer of the year at Cricket South Afric ...

was ruled out of South Africa's squad for the Test series due to a hip injury. On 30 December 2021, Quinton de Kock announced his retirement from

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

with immediate effect, ruling him out of the second and third Tests. On 2 January 2022, Cricket South Africa announced a 17-member squad for the ODI series, with

Marco Jansen Marco Jansen (born 1 May 2000) is a South African cricketer who plays for the South Africa national cricket team and Warriors in domestic matches. Early life During his early years, Jansen used to open the batting. At the age of nine, in a 20- ...

receiving his maiden ODI call-up.

Kagiso Rabada Kagiso Rabada (born 25 May 1995) is a South African international cricketer who plays all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He made his international debut in November 2014 in limited-overs cricket before going on to make his ...

was released from South Africa's ODI squad to manage his workload, with

George Linde George Fredrik Linde (born 4 December 1991) is a South African cricketer. He made his international debut for the South Africa cricket team in October 2019. Domestic and T20 career He was included in the Western Province cricket team squad for t ...

being retained from their Test squad for the ODI series. India also named

Navdeep Saini Navdeep Amarjeet Saini (born 23 November 1992) is an Indian cricketer. He has played for Delhi since 2013. He made his international debut for the India cricket team in August 2019. Early life Navdeep Saini was born on 23 November 1992 in Karnal ...

, Saurabh Kumar,

Deepak Chahar Deepak Chahar (born 7 August 1992) is an Indian international cricketer. He is a right-arm medium pace swing bowler, who plays for Rajasthan in domestic cricket and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. In 2019, he became the fir ...

and Arzan Nagwaswalla as standby players in their Test squad.

Rohit Sharma Rohit Gurunath Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian international cricketer and the current captain of the Indian cricket team. Widely considered as one of the best opening batter of all time, he plays as a right-handed batsman for Mu ...

was ruled out of India's squad for the Test matches due to an injury, with

Priyank Panchal Priyank Kiritbhai Panchal (born 9 April 1990) is an Indian domestic cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who plays for Gujarat. He was born in Ahmedabad. Career Panchal made his first cricketing appearanc ...

named as his replacement. On 18 December 2021,

KL Rahul Kannanur Lokesh Rahul (born 18 April 1992) is an Indian international cricketer who currently is the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team in test cricket. He is a Right-handed batter and occasional wicketkeeper. He plays for Karnataka in ...

was named as the vice-captain of India's Test squad for the series, replacing Rohit Sharma. Ahead of the tour, Rohit Sharma was named as the captain of India's ODI squad, replacing

. On 31 December 2021, India's ODI squad was announced with Rohit Sharma ruled out of the series. KL Rahul was named as the ODI captain for the series. Ahead of the ODI series,

Washington Sundar Washington Sundar (born 5 October 1999) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team. He also plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket. He is a left-handed batsm ...

was ruled out of India's squad following a positive test for COVID-19, with

Jayant Yadav Jayant Yadav (born 22 January 1990) is an Indian cricketer from Delhi who plays for Haryana in domestic cricket. He is an all-rounder who bats right-handed, and bowls right-arm off-break. He made his international debut in October 2016. Domest ...

named as his replacement.

was also added to India's ODI squad, as cover for

Mohammed Siraj Mohammed Siraj (born 13 March 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team as a Right-arm fast medium bowler. He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League and Hyderabad in dom ...

Test series

1st Test

2nd Test

3rd Test

ODI series

1st ODI

2nd ODI

3rd ODI

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian cricket team in South Africa in 2021-22 2021 in Indian cricket 2021 in South African cricket International cricket competitions in 2021–22 Indian cricket tours of South Africa Cricket events curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic