India, South Africa: How the teams stack up

Rajneesh Gupta checks out the numbers for Virat and Faf and their boys.

Figure out India's record in South Africa

Virat Kohli

IMAGE: India's Captain Virat Kohli. Photograph: BCCI

India have never won a Test series in South Africa, but Virat Kohli's team will go into the three Test series, which begins in Capte Town on Friday, January 5, high on confidence, having won their last nine Test series in a row, including victories in the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Leading India's charge will be Virat Kohli who has been on a golden run with the bat. In the last series against Sri Lanka, he finished with 610 runs, hitting a century in each of the three Tests, including two double hundreds in a row.

The Indian captain has played just two Tests in South Africa. In 2013-2014 he scored a century and a fifty.

Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane's recent poor run at home won't be a concern if one considers his impressive record overseas and also in South Africa.

Rahane averages 53 outside India and that average is even higher in South Africa -- 69.67 for a tally of 209 runs in two Tests.

Batting pivot Cheteshwar Pujara also enjoys a healthy record in South Africa having done well on his previous two tours.

Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay will be keen to improve their below par figures though.

India's No 1 spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is yet to pick a wicket in South Africa, having played just one Test in that country.

His spin partner Ravindra Jadeja took 6 wickets in the only Test he played there.

Ishant Sharma has visited the African twice, taking 7 wickets in 2010-2011 and 5 in 2013-2014.

Mohammed Shami, who played two Tests on India's last tour to South Africa, has 6 wickets at a strike rate of 75.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav are yet to play in that country while Jasprit Bumrah is yet to make his Test debut.

Check out the Indian team's Test career records and their performance against South Africa:

Virat Kohli

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches
Overall	63	5,268	243	53.75	20	15	0/0	-	-	60
Outside India	31	2,347	200	45.13	10	5	0/3	-	-	26
vs South Africa	6	472	119	47.20	1	2	0/0	-	-	4
in South Africa	2	272	119	68.00	1	1	0/18	-	-	1

Ajinkya Rahane

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	43	2,826	188	44.15	9	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	57
Outside India	24	1,817	147	53.44	6	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	27
vs South Africa	6	475	127	59.38	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
in South Africa	2	209	96	69.67	0	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	0

Ravichandran Ashwin

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	55	2,055	124	31.14	4	11	304	7/59	25.45	52.82	26	7	21
Outside India	20	863	118	31.96	2	4	84	7/83	31.75	59.99	6	1	8
vs South Africa	5	119	56	23.80	0	1	31	7/66	14.61	40.00	4	1	2
in South Africa	1	18	11*	18.00	0	0	0	0/25	-	-	0	0	1

Shikhar Dhawan

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	28	2,014	190	43.78	6	5	0	0/0	-	-	0	0	24
Outside India	18	1,411	190	45.52	5	3	0	0/0	-	-	0	0	21
vs South Africa	6	226	45*	22.60	0	0	0	0/9	-	-	0	0	1
in South Africa	2	76	29	19.00	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	1

Ravindra Jadeja

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	35	1,176	90	29.40	8	165	7/48	23.74	61.22	9	1	28
Outside India	10	374	70*	24.93	2	34	6/138	36.82	78.56	2	0	11
vs South Africa	5	117	38	16.71	0	29	6/138	13.90	42.03	3	0	6
in South Africa	1	8	8	4.00	0	6	6/138	25.67	62.33	1	0	1

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	19	451	63*	20.50	0	3	53	6/82	27.19	55.58	4	0	6
Outside India	8	297	63*	27.00	0	3	26	6/82	28.19	59.19	3	0	1
vs South Africa	0
in South Africa	0

Mohammed Shami

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	Catches
Overall	27	326	51*	14.82	1	95	5/47	30.78	54.03	2	6
Outside India	17	228	51*	15.20	1	57	5/112	34.70	58.02	1	2
vs South Africa	2	6	4	2.00	0	6	3/107	43.83	75.00	0	0
in South Africa	2	6	4	2.00	0	6	3/107	43.83	75.00	0	0

Hardik Pandya

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	3	178	108	59.33	1	1	4	2/31	23.75	48.00	0	0	4
Outside India	3	178	108	59.33	1	1	4	2/31	23.75	48.00	0	0	4
vs South Africa	0
in South Africa	0

Parthiv Patel

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches/Stumpings
Overall	23	878	71	33.77	0	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	52/10
Outside India	12	357	69	25.50	0	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	28/5
vs South Africa	0
in South Africa	0

Cheteshwar Pujara

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	54	4,396	206*	52.96	14	16	0	0/2	-	-	0	0	39
Outside India	21	1,310	153	38.53	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	23
vs South Africa	8	513	153	39.46	1	2	0	0/2	-	-	0	0	9
in South Africa	4	311	153	44.43	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	6

K L Rahul

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	21	1,428	199	44.63	4	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	26
Outside India	10	634	158	42.27	3	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	18
vs South Africa	0
in South Africa	0

Wriddhiman Saha

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches/Stumpings
Overall	31	1,156	117	32.11	3	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	65/10
Outside India	13	552	104	32.47	1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	26/7
vs South Africa	5	119	36	17.00	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	5/ 2
in South Africa	0

Ishant Sharma

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	79	558	31*	8.45	226	7/74	36.55	67.19	7	1	16
Outside India	47	403	31*	8.57	146	7/74	37.56	64.62	6	1	7
vs South Africa	11	49	23	5.44	21	4/79	51.14	96.62	0	0	2
in South Africa	5	34	23	4.25	12	4/79	54.17	91.33	0	0	0

Rohit Sharma

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches
Overall	23	1,401	177	42.45	3	9	2	1/26	101.00	167.00	23
Outside India	14	632	79	26.33	0	4	2	1/26	98.50	164.00	16
vs South Africa	4	71	25	8.88	0	0	0	0/10	-	-	2
in South Africa	2	45	25	11.25	0	0	0	0/10	-	-	1

Murali Vijay

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches
Overall	53	3,700	167	41.57	11	15	1	1/12	167.00	330.00	44
Outside India	24	1,548	150	36.86	3	9	1	1/12	105.00	216.00	19
vs South Africa	9	429	97	28.60	0	2	0	0/2	-	-	6
in South Africa	3	176	97	29.33	0	1	0	0/3	-	-	4

Umesh Yadav

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	36	226	30	9.83	0	0	99	5/93	35.91	59.58	1	0	11
Outside India	15	126	30	12.60	0	0	41	5/93	42.10	59.37	1	0	3
vs South Africa	2	16	10*	8.00	0	0	5	3/9	12.00	50.40	0	0	0
in South Africa	0

Jasprit Bumrah is yet to make his Test debut.

SOUTH AFRICA

IMAGE: The South African team in a huddle. Photograph: BCCI

South Africa boast of a strong squad, who are especially difficult to beat in home conditions.

Captain Faf du Plessis, run-machine Hashim Amla, opener Dean Elgar all average above 50 at home, while A B de Villiers has a healthy home average of 46.

The player to watch out in the home team will be opener Aiden Markram who has had a sensational start to his Test career with 380 runs in his first three Tests, including two centuries and a fifty even though the runs came against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

In the bowling department, South Africa will look to torment India with the fiery pace of Dale Steyn who has an impressive tally of 241 wickets in 46 Tests at home at a strike rate of 39.

Young tearaway Kagiso Rabada's home record is even more threatening with 64 wickets in 11 games at an amazing strike rate of 27.

Vernon Philander is a dangerous customer in helpful conditions while the experienced Morne Morkel, who has been in good form recently, enjoys a good record against India.

Keshav Maharaj, who will lead South Africa's spinners, is yet to play a Test against India.

Check out the South Africans' Test records and their performance against India:

Faf du Plessis

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches
Overall	45	2,839	137	46.54	7	15	0/1	-	-	34
in South Africa	23	1,570	137	50.65	5	6	0/1	-	-	16
vs India	6	257	134	25.70	1	0	0/1	-	-	4

Hashim Amla

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches
Overall	110	8,583	311*	49.61	28	35	0/4	-	-	98
in South Africa	57	4,476	208	50.86	16	20	0/4	-	-	49
vs India	18	1,325	253*	45.69	5	4	0/6	-	-	18

Temba Bavuma

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	27	1,259	102*	33.13	1	9	1	1/29	51.00	90.00	0	0	13
in South Africa	14	541	102*	31.82	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
vs India	1	56	34	28.00	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	0

Theunis de Bruyn

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	3	72	48	12.00	0	0	0	0/18	-	-	0	0	5
in South Africa	0
vs India	0

Quinton de Kock

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches/Stumpings
Overall	26	1,578	129*	43.83	3	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	99/7
in South Africa	12	697	129*	53.62	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	38/1
vs India	0

A B de Villiers

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches/Stumpings
Overall	107	8,127	278*	50.48	21	40	2	2/49	52.00	102.00	205/ 5
in South Africa	59	4,150	163	46.63	12	22	0	0/5	-	-	141/3
vs India	17	1,123	217*	40.11	3	4	0	0/5	-	-	34

Dean Elgar

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	Catches
Overall	42	2,654	199	42.13	10	8	13	4/22	44.77	71.00	41
in South Africa	21	1,491	199	55.22	6	4	5	2/10	59.80	94.60	21
vs India	4	137	38	19.57	0	0	5	4/22	27.20	51.60	4

Keshav Maharaj

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	14	232	41*	17.85	0	0	56	6/40	25.04	51.09	3	0	4
in South Africa	5	76	32*	38.00	0	0	20	5/59	21.25	40.15	1	0	2
vs India	0

Aiden Markram

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	3	380	143	95.00	2	1	0	0/13	-	-	0	0	4
in South Africa	3	380	143	95.00	2	1	0	0/13	-	-	0	0	4
vs India	0

Morne Morkel

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	Catches
Overall	80	902	40	12.36	281	6/23	28.46	54.68	7	21
in South Africa	35	303	31*	9.18	127	5/20	27.61	52.72	3	16
vs India	14	245	35	15.31	45	5/20	28.27	56.22	1	2

Chris Morris

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	4	173	69	24.71	0	1	12	3/38	38.25	51.92	0	0	5
in South Africa	2	98	69	32.67	0	1	4	1/8	63.25	91.50	0	0	2
vs India	0

Andile Phehlukwayo

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	100s	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	3	10	6*	-	0	0	9	3/13	11.89	21.11	0	0	1
in South Africa	3	10	6*	-	0	0	9	3/13	11.89	21.11	0	0	1
vs India	0

Vernon Philander

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	47	1,196	74	25.45	7	173	6/44	22.38	49.43	11	2	14
in South Africa	22	448	74	24.89	3	98	5/7	18.89	40.77	7	1	7
vs India	3	88	59	29.33	1	13	4/61	22.23	54.92	0	0	0

Kagiso Rabada

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	23	260	34	13.68	105	7/112	22.30	39.45	7	3	8
in South Africa	11	90	32*	15.00	64	7/112	17.63	27.95	6	3	3
vs India	3	14	6*	7.00	2	1/30	55.50	147.00	0	0	0

Dale Steyn

	Tests	Runs	Highest Score	Average	50s	Wickets	Best	Average	Strike Rate	5I	10M	Catches
Overall	85	1,162	76	14.00	2	417	7/51	22.31	41.45	26	5	22
in South Africa	46	692	58	17.30	1	241	6/8	20.95	39.38	16	3	12
vs India	13	146	44	10.43	0	63	7/51	21.41	41.52	5	1	2

India, South Africa: How the teams stack up

India's Tour Of Australia 2024-25