A giant cricketing clash

India will soon host South Africa for a cricketing tour that will last a lengthy 72 days, including three T20s, five One Day Internationals and four Test Matches. The extensive contest between two of the world's top teams will be one of the most exciting of the season. The tour starts on 2 October with the T20 series.

According to ICC rankings, in T20s India is fourth in the world and South Africa is sixth. In ODIs, India is second and SA is third. In Tests, SA is first, and India is fifth. Therefore, across all formats SA has an average ranking of 3.33 and India averages 3.67. Both teams are very strong. The tour should be a close affair.

While India is very strong in its batting, with the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni, it is weaker in the bowling department, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar the only bowlers we should worry about.

AB de Villiers is the highest-ranked ODI batsman while Virat Kohli is the highest ranked T20 batsman. photo from www.worldcup2015livestreaming.com

South Africa is good in both departments, as I have mentioned before. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla will have a point to prove, being two of the best batsmen in the world (AB is the best in my mind, at number one in ODIs and two in Tests). Dale Steyn will again come firing, while Vernon Philander will look to make a strong comeback in his performances.

But playing in India is never easy. We have lost many series there, and again India will come at us hard, with belief that they can win. I think that India will win the T20 series. We should pip India in the Test series, but the ODI series could go either way.