• South Africa enjoy a 6-2 win-loss record against India in the 12 Tests they have played. In seven Tests at home, South Africa lead 3-0. India's two wins came on turning tracks at Kanpur and Ahmedabad in 1996-97. • South Africa's average innings total at home against India is 317; India's average score in South Africa is 235.

• Both the South African and Indian batsmen have found scoring easier on South African tracks. Six of South Africa's 10 centuries against India, and 18 of their 26 fifties, have come at home. Six of India's nine hundreds against South Africa, and eight of their 15 fifties, have also been made in South Africa.

• India's openers have actually done better than South Africa's - though only marginally. India's average first-wicket partnership in South Africa is 27.31, compared with South Africa's 26.00.

• India's top five as a whole average a pathetic 116 per innings in South Africa. India's last five have done marginally better: 119. South Africa's batting depth is shown by the figure for their last five wickets - 165, which is 49 runs better than India's top five.

• Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian batsman to have toured South Africa twice - in 1992-93 and in 1996-97. In seven Tests there he has scored 443 runs at 36.91. Rahul Dravid enjoyed the tour of 1996-97, with 277 runs at 55.40, but Sourav Ganguly was less productive, scoring 202 runs in six innings at 33.66. VVS Laxman played two Tests, but was dismissed just once for an average of 40.

• South Africa's batsmen have had mixed success against the Indian attack. Gary Kirsten totalled 137 runs in six innings in 1996-97, at 22.83. Herschelle Gibbs played just one Test in that series and made 25 runs in two innings. India have reasons to be wary of Lance Klusener - he knocked up 190 runs at 47.50, including an unbeaten 102 in the second Test at Cape Town. Daryll Cullinan scored 291 runs at 58.20 in that series, but South Africa's most successful batsman was Brian McMillan, with 296 at 98.66.

• Javagal Srinath tops the wicket-takers list for India in South Africa, with 30 in six Tests at 27.66. Venkatesh Prasad's 17 wickets in three Tests there have come at 25.00 apiece, while Anil Kumble has 26 scalps in seven Tests at 32.70.

• Allan Donald has been by far the most successful bowler for South Africa. In seven Tests, he has a rich harvest of 40 wickets at 17.82. Luckily for India, Donald, who has dismissed Tendulkar five times in 12 Tests, including three times in South Africa, has been ruled out of this series.

S Rajesh is a sub-editor with Wisden.com India.

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