India vs South Africa Match Prediction: Amid a dose of white-ball cricket, India and South Africa will resume their ICC WTC 2025-27 cycle with a two-Test series hosted by Shubman Gill’s side, starting on Friday in Kolkata.
Talking about recent form in Test cricket, India ushered in the Gill era with a 2-2 draw in England and a 2-0 sweep over the West Indies at home.
Meanwhile, the Proteas levelled 1-1 in Pakistan last month to kick off the defense of the ICC World Test Championship crown. This series is vital for both sides as they look to move up in the ICC WTC standings.
South Africa and India have a very close head-to-head record in Test cricket. Since South Africa’s readmission to international cricket in 1991, these two sides have clashed in 44 Test matches so far. South Africa hold a tiny edge with 18 wins, while India won 16 Tests, and 10 Tests between them ended in a draw.
Both teams will have at least one change to their sides from their last respective Test matches. India welcome back Rishabh Pant, who, as hinted by India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, will replace Nitish Kumar Reddy, with Dhruv Jurel retaining his place in the XI. This means it will be one of the rare occurrences in Indian cricket where India will play two specialist keepers in the same XI in Test cricket.
For South Africa, captain Temba Bavuma is set to return to international cricket after a two-month layoff due to a calf strain. He missed the Test series in Pakistan. He is likely to replace Dewald Brevis in the lineup.
KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (C), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Tembbs, Tembua (C), Tony de Zorreynne (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Senuuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada
A black soil pitch will be used for the India vs South Africa 1st Test at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It is believed that the pitch will have decent bounce for the pacers and could also aid reverse swing as the ball gets older. However, with barely a couple of millimeters of grass cover on it, the surface will be dry.
In recent years, Kolkata has been the most conducive Test venue in India for fast bowlers, with the seamers bagging 97 wickets in the last six red-ball Tests here.
India is predicted to win the toss.
Shubman Gill is predicted to score the most runs.
Mohammed Siraj is predicted to take the most wickets.
Shubman Gill is predicted to be the Player of the Match.
The 3 players to watch out for in the India vs South Africa 1st Test match are Dhruv Jurel, Keshav Maharaj, and Ravindra Jadeja.
For the India vs South Africa 1st Test Match prediction, we predict that India will beat South Africa in Kolkata.
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