The first match of the series will be played between December 26 and 30 at SuperSport Park, Centurion, before Newlands, Cape Town hosts the second and final fixture between January 3 and January 7, 2024.

Having drawn the T20I leg of their South Africa tour earlier, India capped off the ODI series with a 2-1 win while playing with a second-string squad. They will hope their white-ball form translates into the red-ball format, hoping to register their long-awaited maiden Test series victory in Proteas’ den.

SA vs IND Tests 2023-24: Team news and injury updates

For the visitors, several senior members who were not part of white-ball squads have returned for the Test series with Rohit Sharma, slated to play his first international game since the 2023 World Cup final heartbreak, at the helm. Ishan Kishan has withdrawn from the series, citing personal reasons, making way for KS Bharat as his replacement. The development came just two days after Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the tour because of his ankle injury.

In another fresh injury blow for India, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of the Test series due to a fractured finger, which will likely take him five weeks to heal. Abhimanyu Easwaran has been named as his replacement.

Meanwhile, Temba Bavuma will return to lead South Africa after being rested in the ODI series, while Kagiso Rabada’s availability is uncertain despite being named in the squad.

Left-arm seamer Nandre Burger, who impressed in the white-ball leg, has earned his maiden Test call-up besides batter David Bedingham and Tristan Stubbs, while wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynee has been recalled. Dean Elgar, the former South Africa captain, meanwhile, has announced his retirement and this series will be his last.

":2,"2":"sa="" vs="" ind="" odis="" squad:="" full="" team="" lists="" for="" south="" africa="" v="" india="" 2023"}"="" data-sheets-userformat="{" 2":8771,"3":{"1":0},"4":{"1":2,"2":16770457},"9":1,"12":0,"16":12}"="">SA vs IND Tests 2023-24 squad: Full team lists for South Africa v India Tests 2023-24

South Africa Test squad: Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk).

India 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 (vc), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk), Abhimanyu Easwaran.