Freedom Trophy (cricket)


Freedom Trophy is a cricket trophy that is awarded to the winner of Test series, known as Gandhi-Mandela series, between India and South Africa. First awarded in 2015, the trophy is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Background

Prior to the trophy's inception, India and South Africa had played eleven series, six in South Africa and five in India. The overall record was six South African victories, two Indian victories, and three drawn series.
SeasonHostTestsIndiaSouth AfricaDrawnResult
1992–93
4
0
1
3
South Africa
1996–97
3
2
1
0
India
1996–97
3
0
2
1
South Africa
1999–2000
2
0
2
0
South Africa
2001–02
2
0
1
1
South Africa
2004–05
2
1
0
1
India
2006–07
3
1
2
0
South Africa
2007–08
3
1
1
1
Drawn
2009–10
2
1
1
0
Drawn
2010–11
3
1
1
1
Drawn
2013–14
2
0
1
1
South Africa

In 2015 BCCI and CSA announced that all future bilateral tours of India and South Africa to be named as Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series. The series is named after leaders of both countries to pay tribute to them for playing a major role in winning independence by nonviolence. This has also helped in gaining an "iconic and traditional status" to the series.

List of Test series

SeasonHostFirst MatchTestsIndiaSouth AfricaDrawnResultHolderPlayer of the series
2015–165 November 2015
4
3
0
1
IndiaIndia Ravichandran Ashwin
2017–185 January 2018
3
1
2
0
South AfricaSouth Africa Vernon Philander
2019–202 October 2019
3
3
0
0
IndiaIndia Rohit Sharma
2021–22January 2022
3
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