The first batch of India Cricket Team has departed for South Africa on Wednesday early morning. With IND vs SA T20Is up first, Suryakumar Yadav left with the T20 squad along with head coach Rahul Dravid and his support staff including batting coach Vikram Rathour. The next batch will be of Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj and Ishan Kishan who will be playing in ODIs but not Tests. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will join the squad ahead of the intra-squad match on Dec 20. As many as 47 players will travel to South Africa for the series including India A shadow tour.
For someone like Mukesh Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja, India vs South Africa will be a long series. Mukesh Kumar and Ruturaj Gaikwad will play all three formats. Jadeja will feature in the T20Is and Tests. After the T20I series, Suryakumar Yadav will return home for a break.
The Test squad will link up in Centurion ahead of the 1st Test starting December 26. However, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among other Test specialists will also play a 3-day intra-squad practice from Dec 20. Hence, all are expected to land in the Rainbow Nation after a month-long break by Dec 16.
