IND vs SA: India's newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill, along with star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, will touch down in Kolkata on Sunday, November 9, to kick
off preparations for the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa. The first Test begins on November 14 at the iconic Eden Gardens, as reported by PTI.
The 25-year-old Gill, who takes over the red-ball reins for the first time, will have wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant as his deputy - marking Pant's much-anticipated return to the Test arena following his long injury layoff. Alongside Gill and Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel will also be arriving in Kolkata on the same day, flying directly from Brisbane, where they were part of India's T20I squad.
"Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel will fly directly to Kolkata from Brisbane. They are expected to check in by evening," a local team manager confirmed to PTI. "The entire South Africa squad will also check in on Sunday," the manager added.
Other members of the Indian Test setup - including Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, and the young trio of Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Nitish Kumar Reddy - are scheduled to arrive in batches on Monday. Training sessions are expected to commence from Tuesday.
India will enter the series on the back of a strong start to their World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 campaign, having drawn 2-2 against England in an away series and sweeping the West Indies at home earlier in October.
Meanwhile, India's T20 side led by Suryakumar Yadav wrapped up their five-match series in Australia with a 2-1 win after the fifth and final T20I at Brisbane's Gabba on November 8 was washed out due to a storm.
Following the Kolkata Test, the second and final match of the series will be played in Guwahati from November 22. The last Test series between India and South Africa, held in December 2023-January 2024, ended 1-1, while South Africa's previous tour of India in 2019 saw the visitors suffer a 3-0 whitewash.
