After the much-impressive show on the home soil, Virat Kohli’s Team India is all set to take on South Africa. The highly-anticipated India’s Tour of South Africa 2018 begins from January 5 and last until January 24, 2018. The two-month long schedule will see the two teams battle it out in three Tests, six One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches. The high-octane competition against the Proteas is dubbed as a litmus test for the Indian cricket team, moreover for Virat Kohli. After leading the side in a string of home series, South Africa tour is seen as Virat’s first crucial overseas challenge. India-South Africa clash is on top of every cricket fan’s mind ever since the complete timetable with date and venue details have been officially announced.

In a media statement, BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary stated about 'Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela' Test series. It will be a three-match Test series starting from January 5 at Newlands, Cape Town. However, No. 1 ranked Test team will play a two-day warm-up game at Boland Park, Paarl on December 30-31, 2017 before taking on the South African challenge. The second and third Test matches are hosted by Centurion and Wanderers, Johannesburg respectively. The Test series wraps up on January 28.

The six ODIs will begin from February 1 at Kingsmead. Apart from the second ODI at Centurion, rest of the matches will be in day-night format. The sixth and last ODI is hosted by Centurion on February 16. If India is number one ranked side in Test format, South Africa is the team on top of the ODI rankings. The two sides are evenly matched making their contest so interesting for cricket lovers worldwide.

After India and South Africa have battled in Tests and ODIs, the tournament will move to its last leg – the Twenty20s. They will lock horns in three T20Is beginning on February 18 at Johannesburg followed by the second T20I on February 21 at Centurion and last match at the Cape Town on February 24. It is going to be a roller-coaster ride for both teams as this tournament holds the key to their dominance in the cricketing world.

Sr. No. Date Match Venue

1.

December 30-31 Two-day Warm-up Game Boland Park, Paarl

2.

January 5-9, 2018 First Test Match Newlands, Cape Town

3.

January 13-17, 2018 Second Test Match SuperSport Park, Centurion

4.

January 24-28, 2018 Third Test Match New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
One-Day Internationals

1.

February 1 1st ODI Kingsmead, Durban

2.

February 4 2nd ODI SuperSport Park, Centurion

3.

February 7 3rd ODI Newlands, Cape Town

4.

February 10 4th ODI New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

5.

February 13 5th ODI St George's Park, Port Elizabeth

6.

February 16 6th ODI SuperSport Park, Centurion
Twenty20 Internationals

1.

February 18 1st T20I New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

2.

February 21 2nd T20I SuperSport Park, Centurion

3.

February 24 3rd T20I Newlands, Cape Town

Team India squad for Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (Wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 21, 2017 01:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).