India are among the favourites to win the ICC World Cup in 2011 that they are set to co-host in 2011.
South Africa are expected to mount a serious challenge for the title.
How have these teams fared against each other in past editions of the event? SA were readmitted to international cricket in 1990 after they were banned by the ICC in 1970 for the apartheid policy practiced against blacks in their country.
Their first opportunity to play in the ICC World Cup came in 1992 when the event was hosted in Australia.
India and South Africa had their first meeting at the Adelaide Oval in a match curtailed by rain to 30 overs a side.
The South Africans won the toss, and India, put in to bat managed 180/6 on the back of skipper Azharuddin's 79, aided by cameos by Manjrekar (28) and Kapil Dev (42).
For South Africa, Donald and Kuiper snared two wickets each.
SA chased down the target, with five balls to spare, thanks to an opening stand of 128 between Peter Kirsten and Hudson.
There was a flurry of wickets once Hudson was out, bowled by Srinath, but in the end, the six-wicket win was a cruise, with skipper Wessels shepherding the team home.
For India, Srinath, Kapil and Prabhakar took a wicket each.
In the next edition of the cup,hosted in the sub-continent,in 1996,India and SA were placed in different groups, and did not meet each other, with South Africa crashing out after losing to the West Indians in the quarter-finals.
The sides next met at a world cup in 1999, in England, where they were placed in the same preliminary group.
In the match played at Hove, in Brighton, India won the toss and batted first.
Building on a 67-run opening stand between Ganguly and Tendulkar, the Indians  managed 253/5 in their allotted 50 overs.
Ganguly fell three short of a century and Dravid got 54, in an innings that lost momentum in the slog overs after Ganguly was run out to a brilliant piece of fielding by Jonty Rhodes.
Klusener chipped in with three wickets to curtail India to what was arguably about 30 runs short of comfort.
Klusener, Rhodes and Cronje made useful contributions, as South Africa  reached their target quite comfortably in the 48th over, Kallis showing the way with 96, before he was run out in the 46th over.
Srinath got two wickets, while Kumble, Ganguly and Agarkar took one apiece in a largely unimpressive bowling performance.
The next world cup was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, and in a tournament in which India did brilliantly to reach the final, South Africa failed to make it past the group stage, living up to the tag of chokers that they had by then earned.
in the event, India and South africa did not meet each other at this edition.
Thereafter, in the 2007 edition of the world cup, it was India's turn to choke at the group stage losing to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, thereby ensuring another missed opportunity to try and better their record against South Africa at the World Cup.
Thus, South Africa have played India twice at ODI world cups, winning comfortably on both occasions.
Will it be any different this time around, with India enjoying home advantage? We don't have long, to find out.