South Africa will undertake their longest cricket tour of India later this year to contest all three formats over a nine-week period, the Indian board announced on Monday.

The tour, which comprises three Twenty20 matches, five one-day internationals and four Tests, will run between September 29 and December 7.

It will be the first time South Africa will play a Twenty20 international on Indian soil in preparation for the World Twenty20 which will be held across India in March-April next year.

South Africa have also never contested a four-Test series in India before, adding a new challenge for Hashim Amla’s top-ranked Proteas side.

The tour starts with the three T20 games from October 2 to 8, followed by the five one-dayers from Oct 11 to 25.

The four Tests will be played in Mohali (November 5-9), Bangalore (Nov 14-18), Nagpur (Nov 25-29) and New Delhi December (3-7). The second match in Bangalore is expected to be South African batting star AB de Villiers’ 100th Test.

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Schedule:
Sept 29: T20 practice match, Delhi
Oct 2: First T20 international, Dharamsala
Oct 5: Second T20 international, Cuttack
Oct 8: Third T20 international, Kolkata
Oct 11: First ODI, Kanpur
Oct 14: Second ODI, Indore
Oct 18: Third ODI, Rajkot
Oct 22: Fourth ODI, Chennai
Oct 25: Fifth ODI, Mumbai
Oct 30-31: Two-day tour match vs Board President’s XI, Mumbai
Nov 5-9: First Test, Mohali
Nov 14-18: Second Test, Bangalore
Nov 25-29: Third Test, Nagpur
Dec 3-7: Fourth Test, Delhi