Temba Bavuma last to join Proteas lineup as South Africa squad assemble in Kolkata for 1st Test vs India

The first batch of the South African contingent, including head coach Shukri Conrad, pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, along with the players who featured in the white-ball series in Pakistan, had arrived on Sunday morning.

“Bavuma, along with another player and a few officials, arrived this morning from Bengaluru. Most of the squad including the head coach had already checked in on Sunday. So, South Africa now have their full contingent in. There’s no activity scheduled at the Eden today… Most likely, both teams will have their first training session on Tuesday,” the South Africa teams local manager told PTI.

Temba Bavuma, who had suffered a calf strain and missed the start of South Africa’s World Test Championship title defence during the two-match Test series in Pakistan, returned to action for the ‘A’ side in their second unofficial Test against India A in Bengaluru.

The SA skipper, playing under Marques Ackerman in the A side, was dismissed for a golden duck in the first innings but made a determined 101-ball 59 in the second to help his team clinch a five-wicket win in the second and final match of the series that concluded on Sunday.

As for the Indian contingent, the batch returning from the Australia white-ball series — comprising head coach Gautam Gambhir, skipper Shubman Gill, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel — checked in late on Sunday.

India began the ongoing 2025-27 World Test Championship campaign under Shubman Gill, who made his Test captaincy debut in England earlier this year, drawing a grueling five-match away series 2-2. They then swept West Indies 2-0 in a home series. This will be India’s final Test series of the year, with no red-ball assignments scheduled until their scheduled one-off Test against Afghanistan in June next year.