South Africa in India
South Africa go to India after a very poor home series against England. They lost the one-day series and could only draw the test series after not making the most of their opporttunities in the first and third tests. They travel to India alittle uncertain of where they are at. India meanwhile had a good tour of Bangladesh. They lost the tri-series final to Sri Lanka after after a little hiccup early in the first test, they came home strongly to sweep Bangladesh 2-0 in the short test series.
The tour is surprisingly short, going for less than a month and consists of a tour game, two tests and three ODI's. Not really the sort of absorbing series we were all hoping for but it should be interesting nonetheless.
India have made a couple of changes to their line-up. Rahul Dravid is out after suffering a fractured cheekbone courtesy of a Shahadat Hossain bouncer in the match at Chittagong, S Badrinath takes his place in a 15-man squad which has only six specialist batsman. Fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun from Karnataka comes into the side, replacing the injured Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthik has been dropped after his awful shot selection and duck at Chittagong and has been replaced by Wriddhiman Saha who has played some cricket for India "A" and also the Under 19 side.
South Africa have a few changes of their own. Off-spinner and one-day vice-captain Johan Both has been picked for the two test series, as has Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Freidel de Wet and Makhaya Ntini missed out on places in the test squad despite playing against England in the home series.
Loots Bosman returns to the ODI side after his excellent performances at home against England in each of the Twenty20 matches. Herschelle Gibbs is back in the squad too, the first time has been in South African colours since last year's T20 World Cup. Hashim Amla, Ryan McLaren and Charl Langeveldt were all overlooked for the ODI squad even though all participated in series at home against England.
This series is made even more interesting by the fact that South African cricket has hit a massive bump in the road. Less than a week ago, Mickey Arthur quit his position as the country's head coach and Cricket South Africa sacked the entire selection panel only days later in a shock move. Whether this has had an effect on the players remains to be seen but time will tell.
This should be a mouthwatering contest, both sides are ranked one and two in test cricket, the number of tests may be short of everyone expectations but they are shaping to be an enthralling battle. Let's hope we can see some great cricket here.
Fixtures
Tue Feb 2 - Wed Feb 3: Indian Board President's XI v South Africans at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)
Sat Feb 6 - Wed Feb 10: 1st Test - India v South Africa
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)
Sun Feb 14 - Thu Feb 18: 2nd Test - India v South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)
Sun Feb 21 (D/N): 1st ODI - India v South Africa at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur (09:00 GMT | 14:30 local)
Wed Feb 24: 2nd ODI - India v South Africa at Green Park, Kanpur (03:30 GMT | 09:00 local)
Sat Feb 27 (D/N): 3rd ODI - India v South Africa at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad (09:00 GMT | 14:30 local)
Squads
India (First Test): *+MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, +Wriddhiman Saha
South Africa (Tests): *Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, +Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
South Africa (ODI's): *Graeme Smith, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, +Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe
South Africa go to India after a very poor home series against England. They lost the one-day series and could only draw the test series after not making the most of their opporttunities in the first and third tests. They travel to India alittle uncertain of where they are at. India meanwhile had a good tour of Bangladesh. They lost the tri-series final to Sri Lanka after after a little hiccup early in the first test, they came home strongly to sweep Bangladesh 2-0 in the short test series.
The tour is surprisingly short, going for less than a month and consists of a tour game, two tests and three ODI's. Not really the sort of absorbing series we were all hoping for but it should be interesting nonetheless.
India have made a couple of changes to their line-up. Rahul Dravid is out after suffering a fractured cheekbone courtesy of a Shahadat Hossain bouncer in the match at Chittagong, S Badrinath takes his place in a 15-man squad which has only six specialist batsman. Fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun from Karnataka comes into the side, replacing the injured Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthik has been dropped after his awful shot selection and duck at Chittagong and has been replaced by Wriddhiman Saha who has played some cricket for India "A" and also the Under 19 side.
South Africa have a few changes of their own. Off-spinner and one-day vice-captain Johan Both has been picked for the two test series, as has Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Freidel de Wet and Makhaya Ntini missed out on places in the test squad despite playing against England in the home series.
Loots Bosman returns to the ODI side after his excellent performances at home against England in each of the Twenty20 matches. Herschelle Gibbs is back in the squad too, the first time has been in South African colours since last year's T20 World Cup. Hashim Amla, Ryan McLaren and Charl Langeveldt were all overlooked for the ODI squad even though all participated in series at home against England.
This series is made even more interesting by the fact that South African cricket has hit a massive bump in the road. Less than a week ago, Mickey Arthur quit his position as the country's head coach and Cricket South Africa sacked the entire selection panel only days later in a shock move. Whether this has had an effect on the players remains to be seen but time will tell.
This should be a mouthwatering contest, both sides are ranked one and two in test cricket, the number of tests may be short of everyone expectations but they are shaping to be an enthralling battle. Let's hope we can see some great cricket here.
Fixtures
Tue Feb 2 - Wed Feb 3: Indian Board President's XI v South Africans at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)
Sat Feb 6 - Wed Feb 10: 1st Test - India v South Africa
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)
Sun Feb 14 - Thu Feb 18: 2nd Test - India v South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)
Sun Feb 21 (D/N): 1st ODI - India v South Africa at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur (09:00 GMT | 14:30 local)
Wed Feb 24: 2nd ODI - India v South Africa at Green Park, Kanpur (03:30 GMT | 09:00 local)
Sat Feb 27 (D/N): 3rd ODI - India v South Africa at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad (09:00 GMT | 14:30 local)
Squads
India (First Test): *+MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, +Wriddhiman Saha
South Africa (Tests): *Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, +Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
South Africa (ODI's): *Graeme Smith, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, +Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe