The Gandhi-Mandela Trophy will start off the much-awaited India tour of South Africa, with Centurion hosting the first Test, a Boxing Day Test, from December 26, followed by Test matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
A rejigged itinerary for the tour was confirmed by the BCCI and CSA on December 6, which sees the three ODIs be played in Paarl and Cape Town from January 19 to 23.
The ODIs, however, won’t be part of the ODI Super League, as the initial statement from CSA had incorrectly recorded about the tour, raising doubts if India are playing their ‘home’ Super League series with South Africa in South Africa.
With that cleared, though, it was also confirmed by CSA that the four T20Is that were part of the original tour schedule will be played at a “more opportune” time next year, expectedly near the next T20 World Cup in Australia, starting October 16.
As per India’s next year’s fixture-list out till now, the Indian team’s tour of England finishes on July 17, post which the side is expected to tour West Indies and take part in the Asia Cup T20. It is believed that these four T20Is versus the Proteas will be squeezed in during that window.
But it would’ve been a huge relief for CSA and BCCI to be confirming the Indian tour at the time when the dangerous Covid-19 variant Omicron continues to firm its grip in the rainbow nation.
The BCCI were the first one to green signal the tour on December 5 after its 90th AGM. The apex council, including president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, had waited for a government directory on travelling to South Africa, and it came out positive.
This meant that the India ‘A’ side, which is in South Africa for their three four-day games, could also continue with their trip.
India tour of South Africa
| Game | Venue | Date |
| 1st Test | Centurion | December 26-30 |
| 2nd Test | Johannesburg | January 3-7 |
| 3rd Test | Cape Town | January 11-15 |
| 1st ODI | Paarl | January 19 |
| 2nd ODI | Paarl | January 21 |
| 3rd ODI | Cape Town | January 23 |
