'Will be a closely-fought contest' - Jacques Kallis on upcoming South Africa vs India Test series

The Men in Blue have arrived in South Africa to compete with the Proteas in both white ball and red ball formats. The two teams will lock horns in a three-match T20I series beginning from December 10 followed by an ODI series of as many games from December 17. However, the real challenge for both teams will be to win the two-match Test series beginning from December 26 and get crucial points on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table.

Notably, India have never won a Test series in South Africa in eight attempts and have only managed to settle for a draw just once in 2010 (1-1). Hence, the upcoming tour series will be extremely important for the Rohit Sharma-led side who will be chasing history. However, legendary South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis believes that it will be tough for India to beat the Proteas at home but also feels that it will be a closely fought series.

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"This is a good Indian team but South Africa is tough to beat in South Africa. Centurion will probably suit South Africa and Newlands will probably suit India. It will be a good series and it will come down to one or two sessions that one team might play better than the other. It would be a closely-fought contest," said Kallis,” Kallis was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

India haven't picked Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in Test squad

The first Test of the series will be played at SuperSport Park, Centurion from December 26 while the second Test will be played at Newlands, Cape Town from January 03. The Indian Test team will not be having the senior pros Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in their squads as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been picked over them.

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Hence, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will have the burden of carrying the entire batting lineup on their shoulders and share their experience with the youngsters. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav will be seen leading the T20I side while KL Rahul has been entrusted with the captaincy duties for the ODI team.