India and South Africa are two test-playing nations who first played against each other in 1992. In 2015, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket South Africa announced the Freedom Trophy. It is also known as the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy, in honor of the freedom fighters of both nations. The trophy is awarded to the winner of the test series between the two nations.
Before the Freedom Trophy was held for the first time, India and South Africa played each other in test series 11 times. Six of these were won by South Africa, two by India, and three ended in a draw. Out of the 29 test matches they played against each other till 2013-14, 13 of these were won by South Africa, seven were won by India, and nine were drawn.
Since it was contested in 2015, the Freedom Trophy has been held five times. As of 2023-24, both teams have won the tournament twice each. Out of the 15 test matches played in these five series, India have won nine, South Africa have won five, and one has ended in a draw. Since the 2023-24 test series ended in a draw, South Africa retained the trophy and currently (as of 2024) hold the Freedom Trophy.
Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in the Freedom Trophy, having scored 1136 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin is the leading wicket-taker with 57 wickets. The second most run-scorer and wicket-taker are Dean Elgar (1012 runs) and Kagiso Rabada (55 wickets) respectively.
