The fans at the airport welcomed the Men in Blue and took pictures with them as they touched down in the Rainbow Nation.
In a video that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared on X, players can be seen being greeted cordially by hotel workers when they arrive at a South African airport.
A three-match Twenty20 International series will begin the all-format tour of South Africa on Sunday and run through December 14. The white-ball series’ ODI phase will begin on December 17 and run through September 21.
The clip featured the Men in Blue, which included Mohammed Siraj, head coach Rahul Dravid, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Senior players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and captain Rohit Sharma will miss the white-ball phase of the all-format series. The top T20I batsman, Suryakumar Yadav, will captain the T20I team, while KL Rahul will captain the ODI team. Call-ups for the ODI team have gone to young players like Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Sai Sudarshan, and Rajat Patidar.
The two-match Test series, which will see the first Test held in Centurion starting on December 26 and the second Test in Cape Town starting on January 3, will include the comeback of senior players. Since India hasn’t won a Test series in South Africa, Indian supporters will be most anticipating this red-ball leg of the series.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday announced their squads against India for the multi-format series at home, beginning from Sunday.
Fast bowler Nandre Burger and batters David Bedingham and Tristan Stubbs received their maiden call-ups to South Africa’s Test squad for the India series; wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne has been recalled.
(With ANI inputs)