The Rohit Sharma-led India Test squad has assembled in South Africa and is gearing up for the Boxing Day Test in Centurion starting December 26 (Tuesday).
From their first-ever Test tour of South Africa to their last Test assignment that came in 2021-22, India have played eight Test series in the Rainbow Nation and are still desperately searching for their maiden Test series win.
They have come close to ending the drought on several tours but haven't been able to cross the line. Now, with the hope of rewriting history, Rohit and his men are about to undertake another arduous task and face a gritty and well-rested South African unit that looks raring to take the field.
The visitors have the advantage of having played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion before but their track record at the venue is not a very encouraging one.
The Indian team has played three Tests at the iconic ground and have won once and lost twice to the Proteas. The solitary win came in the previous game they played there during their 2021/22 Test tour.
Centurion played host to the first Test of the 2021/22 India's tour of South Africa and India had registered a 113-run win over the Dean Elgar-led side to take an early 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.
However, India's lead didn't last too long as the Proteas fought back in style and won the remaining two Tests to seal the series 2-1 in their favour.
| Team | Team | Winner | Margin | Venue | Date |
| South Africa | India | India | 113 runs | Centurion |
December 26-30, 2021
|
| South Africa | India | South Africa | 135 runs | Centurion | January 13-17, 2018 |
| South Africa | India | South Africa | innings & 25 runs | Centurion |
December 16-20, 2010
|
India's Test squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran.
