In August 2019, Cricket South Africa confirmed that Faf du Plessis would lead the Test side for the tour,[3] with Quinton de Kock named captain of the T20I team.[4] Later the same month, as per the request of the Jharkhand Cricket Association, due to Durga Puja celebrations in the second week of October in Ranchi, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) agreed to switch the venues of the second and third Tests.[5] Pune, which was originally scheduled to host the third Test, hosted the second Test, with Ranchi hosting the third Test match.[6]
The three-match T20I series was drawn 1–1, after the first fixture was washed out.[7] In the Test series, India won the first two matches to take an unassailable 2–0 lead.[8] It was India's eleventh-consecutive series win at home, setting a new record for any team in Test cricket.[9] India won the final Test by an innings and 202 runs to win the series 3–0.[10] It was India's first whitewash in a bilateral Test series against South Africa.[11] South Africa lost the last two Tests by an innings. The last time they had lost consecutive Test matches by an innings margin was during Australia's visit in 1935–36.[12]
South Africa returned to India in March 2020 to play three One Day International (ODI) matches.[13] On 6 March 2020, Cricket South Africa announced that the trip to India for the ODI matches would still go ahead, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.[14][15] After the first ODI, which was abandoned with no play due to rain,[16] the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that the two remaining ODIs would be played behind closed doors,[17] in an attempt to reduce the impact of the coronavirus.[18] However, on 13 March 2020, the remaining two ODI matches were cancelled.[19][20]
