India vs South Africa 1st Test – Who Will Claim the Freedom Trophy?

The Freedom or the Mandela-Ghandi Trophy is on the line for India and South Africa as the two face off over two test matches this November. In the following text, we are going to take a look at the opening test match in the series. We carefully assess both teams, squads and tactics so we can create a strong India vs South Africa Prediction.

The Freedom Trophy began in 2015, and it’s been held 5 times, won twice by India and twice by South Africa. The South Africans are the current holders after claiming it at home in 2021 and defending it with a 1-1 draw in the 2024 home series. The actual test match score in individual matches is 15 played, 9 India, 5 South Africa, with 1 draw.

• Dates: 14th Nov – 18 Nov (5 Days)
• Time: 04:00 GMT
• Stadium: Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India
• Form of Cricket: Test Match (Series best of 2)

India has the home advantage in this edition of the Freedom Trophy, which is played over two test matches this November. There will be a further set of games played in both the T20 and ODI forms of the game as well. In this article, we are going to focus on the test matches and specifically the opening match. Both these test matches will count towards the World Test Championship.

South Africa are the current World Test Championship holders, while India are always very strong in all formats of the game when playing on home pitches. This should make for two very engaging Test matches, and I’m expecting these to be great to watch for purist fans of the game. Both sides have batsmen and bowlers ranked within the top 10 current Test player rankings, so there will be plenty of quality to watch.

What is the latest team news?

Let’s look into the two squads, team news and current test cricket form for both sides. Who is fit and who is in form makes a huge difference when we are creating our India vs South Africa Prediction.

India

India loves their cricket; it’s a national obsession. So when Australia won in India 3-1 (Best of 5) at the end of 2024, it caused some concern for the cricket-mad fans. However they have been playing some fantastic test cricket since over the course of 2025 and have remained unbeaten. They played out a thrilling 2-2 (best of 5) draw with England in July and comfortably saw off the West Indies 2-0 (best of 2) in October.

In terms of Test players, India’s main batsman is Yashasvi Jaiswal who looked really impressive against England in the 5 match test series. India also include the top-ranked world Test Bowler (Jasprit Bumrah) and all-rounder (Ravindra Jadeja) to call upon as wicket takers. Making their squad one of the best in the business.

South Africa

South Africa are the current World Test Championship holders, after beating Australia in the final at Lord’s in June. Their test match results this year have also shown good form.  They thrashed Bangladesh and neighbours Zimbabwe 2-0 (Best of 2) in January and summer, but only drew 1-1 (best of 2) during their recent tour of Pakistan in Oct.

Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram are the main focus for runs for the South Africans. Kagiso Rabada is the big wicket-taker and is ranked 2nd in the world test rankings currently. He is backed up and supported by Marco Jansen though who is ranked 9th. Wiaan Mulder is their main all-rounder and he looked fantastic against Zimbabwe, even though they admittedly are a limited opposition at Test match level.

Series Score and upcoming matches India vs South Africa

The South African cricket team is on tour in India. The following matches are scheduled.

• Freedom Trophy – ICC World Test Championship (2 Matches)
• 14-18 November – Eden Gardens, Kolkata
• 22-26 November – Assam Cricket Association Stadium, Guwahati

ODI International Series (3 Matches)

• 30th November
• 3rd December
• 6th December

T20 Internationals (5 Matches)

• 9th December
• 11th December
• 14th December
• 17th December
• 19th December

Where to watch  India vs South Africa

There is no national broadcast of the match in India however you can stream the match via several bookmakers online or on apps.

You can also watch the entire India vs South Africa series with OTTplay Premium.

Other apps you can watch these matches on include JioHotstar, Fancode and SonyLIV.

This way you can see if our India vs South Africa – Betting tips turn out to be correct!

Prediction for India vs South Africa

So now we have looked into all the factors, we can make our final India vs South Africa – prediction for the first opening test match in Kolkata and the final series result.

I appreciate that South Africa are the world’s test champions but I have a feeling that India are going to edge them out in this upcoming match. They looked in good form against England and playing test match cricket on the road is a lot harder than at home. South Africa struggled in Pakistan conditions recently and will find it harder in India who have better players and similar pitches.

With the series only a best of 2 (I don’t like that setup between the big test nations, personally think it should be best of 3 minimum) it might be worth looking at a draw across the two games or an Indian win. Look at 1X2 Odds for this. South Africa have not won a series in India since back in the year 2000 as well which might influence your thinking.