Here is Wisden’s combined XI solely based on Test matches between India and South Africa.
India will host South Africa in all three international formats. The tour will start with two Tests from mid-November 2025. Ahead of that, here is an XI based on Test matches between the two sides until the start of the 2025/26 series.
The numbers refer to statistics in India-South Africa Test matches.
Wisden’s all-time India-South Africa Test XI
Virender Sehwag
M: 15 | 1,306 runs at 50.23, HS: 319, 5 hundreds | 9 wickets at 29.44, BBI: 3-12
India were 68-4 at Bloemfontein when a fresh-faced Sehwag walked out for the first time in Test cricket. The hundred that followed would be typical of the man, who blasted (there cannot be another verb for a Sehwag hundred) four more tons against South Africa including the 319 at Chennai, the highest Test score for India.
Dean Elgar
M: 15 | 1,012 runs at 40.48, HS: 185, 2 hundreds | 6 wickets at 27.67, BBI: 4-22
Elgar is among the strongest reasons behind India’s failure to win a Test series in South Africa. That home average took a hit on the extreme wickets in his home country in the WTC era, but still stands at a formidable 49.46. There were big hundreds at Visakhapatnam 2018/19 and Centurion 2023/24, but his finest performances – 85 not out (Johannesburg 2018/19), 77 (Centurion in 2021/22), 96 not out (Johannesburg in 2021/22) were all two-digit scores.
Hashim Amla
M: 21 | 1,528 runs at 43.65, HS: 253*, 5 hundreds
Like Sehwag, Amla debuted in an India-South Africa Test. He had a stupendous record in India – 941 runs at 62.73. Among touring batters, only Clive Lloyd has more runs in India at a better average. His peak came in 2010/11, when he was dismissed once for 490 runs.
Jacques Kallis
M: 18 | 1,734 runs at 69.36, HS: 201*, 7 hundreds | 22 wickets at 41.31, BBI: 3-30
That average shoots up to 81 at home, but Kallis averaged 58 even in India – a phenomenal record, enough to keep Sachin Tendulkar (the only batter to score 1,000 overseas runs in these contests) out of this XI. His bowling record looks ordinary, but as we shall see, it is unlikely to be needed in this XI. His greatest Test was in Cape Town in 2010/11, where his two hundreds denied India a maiden series win in the country.
Virat Kohli (c)
M: 16 | 1,408 runs at 54.15, HS: 254*, 3 hundreds
The captain of this XI, Kohli’s true greatness lay in South Africa, where he averaged at least 40 on each of four different tours. The 153 at Centurion in 2017/18 deserves special mention: no other Indian managed 153 runs in the entire series. But there was a glorious 254 not out at Pune as well, when he declared with the Indian record in sight.
AB de Villiers (wk)
M: 20 | 1,334 runs at 39.23, HS: 217*, 3 hundreds
as keeper, M: 3 | 205 runs at 41.00, HS: 103, 1 hundred | Ct: 15
Not an obvious choice, surprisingly. De Villiers’ numbers as wicketkeeper against India are slightly better than as a specialist batter, but virtually no keeper over a reasonable period has really impressed in these clashes. He kept in only three Tests, but he got a hundred in these despite the additional role, so he is probably the best person for the job.
Ravindra Jadeja
M: 9 | 329 runs at 29.90, HS: 91 | 42 wickets at 19.09, BBI: 6-138, 3 5WIs
The usual Jadeja thing – 4.5 wickets a Test along with a batting average of 30 with little fanfare. One can choose from his several great shows on home turf, but perhaps his finest performance was the Durban marathon of 2013/14 where he sent down 58.2 overs to finish with 6-138.
Read more: Brevis out, Bavuma in? Predicted South Africa XI for first India Test
Anil Kumble
M: 21 | 484 runs at 15.61, HS: 88 | 84 wickets at 31.79, BBI: 6-53, 3 5WIs
The second spinner had to be an Indian as well. Ashwin’s superior numbers are propped up by his home record. It is the record in South Africa that sets Kumble apart: he has 45 of the 92 wickets by Indian spinners in the country. Johannesburg has to be his favourite venue in the nation. The 44-22-53-6 in 1991/92 was his first great spell in Test cricket. His 3-40 almost won India their first Test in the country before bad light prevented. When the elusive win finally came in 2006/07, Kumble had 2-2 and 3-54.
Dale Steyn
M: 14 | 65 wickets at 21.53, BBI: 7-51, 5 5WIs, 1 10WM
South African fast bowlers, especially someone of Steyn’s class, are expected to do well against Indians (or anyone) in South Africa. That is a given. But he was just as devastating in India, where his 26 wickets came at 21.38 apiece with the best strike rate (37) for any touring fast bowler with as many wickets. At Ahmedabad in 2008, he took 5-23 to bowl India in the first session of the Test, and added 3-91 in the second innings. He was just as unplayable at Nagpur in 2010, where he ran through India with 7-51 and then 3-57.
Jasprit Bumrah
M: 8 | 38 wickets at 20.76, BBI: 6-61, 3 5WIs
Yet to play a home Test against South Africa, Bumrah debuted in the country in early 2018 and made an immediate impact, with 14 wickets at 25.21. Incredibly, that turned out to be his most ordinary tour as he kept getting better with every visit. He had at least four wickets in six of his eight Tests, and averaged below 18 in five of these. It is impossible to choose one great spell.
Allan Donald
M: 11 | 57 wickets at 17.31, BBI: 7-84, 3 5WIs, 1 10WM
The OG of the post-readmission South Africa pacemen, Donald averaged below 18 against India in both countries. While his 12 wickets at Port Elizabeth set up South Africa’s first win in the post-apartheid era, Donald’s 4-37 and 3-32 in Ahmedabad were just as astonishing (until Javagal Srinath trumped him). A month later, he took 5-40 and 4-14 to blow India away for 100 and 66 at Durban. Three years later on tracks that offered little assistance, Donald took seven wickets at 19 apiece to set up South Africa’s famous 2-0 sweep of India in India.
