Top 5 Test run-getters for India in South Africa

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Sehwag couldn't recreate his debut masterclass on subsequent tours to South Africa

Tied to racial boundaries, cricket was one of the victims of the apartheid era in South Africa but has bounced back admirably to become the second-most popular sport in the country. India has played their part in bringing the nation back to the game, with their historic comeback Test having being played at Calcutta.

Now world beaters, South Africa have used the home advantage to good effect over the years, testing touring batsmen from around the world with their pacy wickets. The Indian team has been caught off-guard on many occasions, and the current side is prepping for what promises to be a grueling tour, come January 5.

As India's batting stars get ready for one of their biggest tests till date, here's remembering their five most prolific predecessors who stamped their class on South African soil:

#5 Virender Sehwag

The occasion, the surface, and big names hardly mattered to Sehwag, who scythed through bowling attacks at an astonishing rate. After a stop-start introduction to ODI cricket, Sehwag found a way in the Test side in 2001 and left such an impression that his free-spirited batting style became indispensable.

Wearing Ajit Agarkar's pads, the youngster matched Sachin Tendulkar, his idol, stroke for stroke, blasting a century on debut at Bloemfontein, against an attack featuring Shaun Pollock, a swifter Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, and Lance Klusener, among others.

However, the subsequent innings hardly did any good to his statistics in South Africa, with only one fifty to show across the next two tours (2006-07 and 2010-11). After a dismal tour in 2010-11, his Test career started to go on a decline.

Tests: 8

Runs: 382

Average: 25.46

50s/100s: 1/1

Highest: 105

#4 Sourav Ganguly

Despite a suspect technique against the short ball, Ganguly played a few doughty knocks in South Africa
Despite a suspect technique against the short ball, Ganguly played a few doughty knocks in South Africa

Despite his heroics in the 50-overs format, Ganguly found haters galore for his questionable record overseas in Tests. Yet, Ganguly remains one of the four Indians to score over 500 runs on South African soil, despite the pacy and bouncy wickets: two of Ganguly's biggest foes throughout his career.

Fresh from a scintillating start to his Test career in England, a young Ganguly traveled with the team to Africa in the winters of 1996 and was expected to re-create the magic. The four-pronged pace attack was at its peak, and India were burdened by the tag of being poor travelers. Two fighting fifties in Johannesburg proved that he belonged to the big stage.

India's 2006 tour to South Africa crisscrossed with Ganguly's renaissance: shelved after his feud with Greg Chappell, he had to muscle his way back. A fighting fifty on return at Johannesburg, when the whole team went down like a pack of cards, epitomised the spirit of Ganguly.

In between, he played the 2001 series, his first real Test abroad as captain, but could not get even a fifty in two games.

Tests: 8

Runs: 506

Average: 36.14

50s/100s: 4/0

Highest: 73

#3 VVS Laxman

Laxman scored some fighting fifties on South African soil
Laxman scored some fighting fifties on South African soil

The saviour of the middle-order, and a fighter par-excellence, Laxman was part of as many as four tours to South Africa from 1996-2001. His maiden trip to the country was hardly notable, for he got three innings to play, and was in the phase where his unsure career was in the doldrums.

By 2001, Laxman had established his reputation as a middle-order pillar and was fresh from his heroics against Australia (read 281). He missed out on a century at Port Elizabeth, playing a lone hand when none of the others managed to get even past 50.

On the 2006-07 tour, Laxman had a much more prominent role to play, and looked in good touch with back-to-back fifties at Johannesburg and Durban, but ended the series with a whimper.

On his last tour, in the twilight of his career, Laxman was supposed to hold the lower middle-order together, and responded with a classic 96 at Durban, garnering some crucial runs first with MS Dhoni and then Zaheer Khan. It was instrumental in India securing a win and leveling the series.

Tests: 10

Runs: 566

Average: 40.42

50s/100s: 4/0

Highest: 96

#2 Rahul Dravid

After a sensational start in 1997, Dravid's numbers in South Africa dipped on further tours
After a sensational start in 1997, Dravid's numbers in South Africa dipped on further tours

Possessing a technique that was almost indestructible even in alien conditions abroad, Dravid was always identified as India's best bet when countering seaming and swinging tracks away from home. The use of soft hands, playing late and close to the body were coaching manual suggestions that were deeply ingrained in his game.

A crucial juncture at the start of his career came in 1997, when he traveled with the team to South Africa, having already proven that he belonged, in England. He responded, and how.

Playing at the crucial No.3 position, Dravid showed what he is made of with a doughty 148, an innings of remarkable resistance against a quality pace attack. If that wasn't enough, he scored 81 in the second innings as India almost sneaked out a victory at Johannesburg. His place in the team was sealed forever.

The subsequent tours weren't as prolific for him, barring a few quality knocks here and there: including an 87 at Port Elizabeth when the Indian team were in hot pursuit of a target of 395.

The 2006 and 2010 tours were blots in his career graph, as he failed to post a single fifty 12 attempts.

Tests: 11

Runs: 624

Average: 29.71

50s/100s: 2/1

Highest: 148

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar scored his 50th Test century at Centurion in 2010
Tendulkar scored his 50th Test century at Centurion in 2010

The man for all seasons and conditions, Tendulkar, unsurprisingly, tops the list, having accumulated runs in buckets during his visits to the rainbow nation. He has the record for the most runs, as well as centuries by any player from either team in matches between the two nations, and played some of his best gems when the rest of his teammates were struggling to put bat on ball.

Part of five series in South Africa (1992-2011), Tendulkar used to be the lone man standing on multiple occasions, weathering the storm created by their potent bowling attack that changed hands seamlessly over the years.

In only his second Test in the country, Tendulkar scored a 111, top-scoring for his side in the first innings, against the red-hot opening combination of Allan Donald and Brian McMillan. Subsequently, he essayed another masterclass on his next tour in early 1997, scoring an authoritative 169 at Cape Town.

A ball-tampering controversy took away all the limelight from Sachin's 2001 tour of South Africa, where he was suspended for one game by Match Referee Mike Denness.

He scored two fifties in the 2006-07 tour, but could not breach the three-figure mark. However, he returned in some style four years later, peaking just in time for the 2011 World Cup. At 37, he tamed the bowling attack featuring Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe by slamming two centuries (111* and 146) on the tour, at Centurion and Durban.

He ended with, by far, the most runs for India in South Africa, and it'll take a Herculean effort to surpass his numbers.

Tests: 15

Runs: 1161

Average: 46.44

50s/100s: 3/5

Highest: 169

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Edited by Aadya Sharma