Indian cricket team departs for South Africa from Bengaluru

The Indian cricket team left for South Africa from Bengaluru on Tuesday night. The Indian team will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests against the Proteas in a tour that starts on 10 December.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, head coach Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Siraj, and others, departed from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru for the T20I series.

The T20I series will start on 10 December at Durban and conclude on 14 December. The ODI leg of the series will then begin on 17 December and culminate on 21 December.

#WATCH | Karnataka: The Indian Cricket Team departs from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru for their upcoming South Africa tour. pic.twitter.com/D6rBbSks3l

— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2023

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not be part of the white-ball segment of the series. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team in the T20I format while KL Rahul will step in for the leadership duties in ODIs. Rising stars Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Sai Sudarshan, and Rajat Patidar have been called up for the 50-over squad.

Kohli, Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah are slated to return for the two-Test series, starting with the Boxing Day Test at Centurion. The second Test will take place in Cape Town from 3 January next year. It is yet another opportunity for India to win their first Test series in South Africa.

Meanwhile, hosts Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced their squad for the series last week with Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada rested for white-ball series. Aiden Markram will lead the team in Bavuma’s absence. However, Bavuma will return and captain the team in the Test matches.