Indian cricket will now play South Africa on December 26, 2023, after winning their ODI series. On Thursday, the KL Rahul-led ODI team prevailed 2-1 in the series. After the ODI World Cup, major veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah will return; therefore, the two-match Test series will take centre stage.

3 things you need to know 

• India tied the T20I series against SA by 1-1 
• India beat South Africa in the 3rd ODI by 78 runs 
• India triumphed in the ODI series by 2-1

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AB de Villiers advises SA bowlers on how to take Virat Kohlis’ wicket 

India is preparing for a pivotal two-match Test series against the Proteas, which begins on December 26 as they go on the last leg of their tour through South Africa. Notably, veteran players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are making their comebacks to international cricket with this series. The experienced Indian batters will be the focus as they look to win their first-ever Test series in South Africa.

With the second-highest run total among Indians on Test grounds in South Africa, Virat Kohli assumes a crucial role in India's tactics. Having scored 719 runs at an average of 51.35 in 7 Tests, Kohli has an outstanding record. It is his duty to perform well. When speaking about Kohli's batting skills, former South Africa captain AB de Villiers stressed that the secret to dismissing him in Test cricket is to stick with a fourth-stump line in the hopes of creating movement off the field to disturb the prolific hitter. Speaking to PTI, AB de Villiers, said: 

"Only way to get a Virat Kohli kind of batter out is a very orthodox way of bowling on the fourth stump channel and play a waiting game. And wait for that one delivery which nips a bit far away,"

"You can't attack a good player, he was straight," 

“Like in case of Tendulkar, it was silly to always wait for leg before (to an incoming delivery). Because he would hit you through mid-wicket. So bowl those deliveries outside off-stump (to Virat) and wait for one to either nip away or nip in,”

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India’s squad for South Africa Tests

 Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)