South Africa will undertake their longest cricket tour of India later this year to contest all three formats over a nine-week period, the Indian board announced on Monday.

The tour, which comprises three Twenty20 matches, five one-day internationals and four Tests, will run between September 29 and December 7.

It will be the first time South Africa will play a Twenty20 international on Indian soil in preparation for the World Twenty20 which will be held across India in March-April next year.

South Africa have also never contested a four-Test series in India before, adding a new challenge for Hashim Amla's top-ranked Proteas side.

The tour starts with the three T20 games from October 2 to 8, followed by the five one-dayers from Oct 11 to 25.

The four Tests will be played in Mohali (November 5-9), Bangalore (Nov 14-18), Nagpur (Nov 25-29) and New Delhi December (3-7).

The second match in Bangalore is expected to be South African batting star AB de Villiers' 100th Test.

Schedule:

Sept 29: T20 practice match, Delhi

Oct 2: : First T20 international, Dharamsala

Oct 5  : Second T20 international, Cuttack

Oct 8 : Third T20 international, Kolkata

Oct 11 : First ODI, Kanpur

Oct 14 : Second ODI, Indore

Oct 18 : Third ODI, Rajkot

Oct 22 : Fourth ODI, Chennai

Oct 25 : Fifth ODI, Mumbai

Oct 30-31 : Two-day tour match vs Board President's XI, Mumbai

Nov 5-9   : First Test, Mohali

Nov 14-18 : Second Test, Bangalore

Nov 25-29 : Third Test, Nagpur

Dec 3-7   : Fourth Test, Delhi
Source: AFP