JOHANNESBURG, July 8: India and Australia will tour top-ranked South Africa for back-to-back series at the end of the year and into early 2014, when Sachin Tendulkar could become the first cricketer to play 200 Tests.
South Africa and No 2-ranked India will play three Tests starting Dec 26 in a schedule announced by Cricket South Africa on Monday.
If India great Tendulkar is picked for the first two Tests, he will reach 200 at Newlands in Cape Town on Jan 2. The India tour starts with two Twenty20s and seven One-day Internationals.
Australia are then scheduled to visit South Africa for a three-Test series in February and March and stay on for three Twenty20 games as preparation for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in March and April.
A battle-hardened Australia team will tour South Africa after successive Ashes series against England. The first of those two series starts this week in England.
Schedules:
India tour of South Africa: Nov 18: T20 v SA Invitation XI (Potchefstroom, D/N). Nov 21: First T20 International (Johannesburg, D/N). Nov 24: Second T20 International (Cape Town). Nov 27: First ODI (Durban, D/N). Nov 30: Second ODI (Port Elizabeth). Dec 3: Third ODI (East London, D/N). Dec 6: Fourth ODI (Centurion, D/N). Dec 8: Fifth ODI (Johannesburg). Dec 12: Sixth ODI (Bloemfontein, D/N). Dec 15: Seventh ODI (Cape Town). Dec 18-19: v SA Invitation XI (Paarl). Dec 22-23: v SA Invitation XI (Pietermaritzburg). Dec 26-30: First Test (Durban). Jan 2-6: Second Test (Cape Town). Jan 15-19: Third Test (Johannesburg). Australia tour of South Africa: Feb 5-8: v SA Invitation XI (Potchefstroom). Feb 12-16: First Test (Centurion). Feb 20-24: Second Test (Port Elizabeth). March 1-5: Third Test (Cape Town). March 9: First T20 International (Port Elizabeth). March 12: Second T20 International (Durban, D/N). March 14: Third T20 International (Centurion, D/N).—Agencies
