India captain Rohit Sharma has hailed the team’s victory in Cape Town as one of the best ever in Indian cricketing history. India defeated South Africa by 7 wickets in the shortest Test match in the history of cricket. Just 107 overs were bowled Cape Town as the match finished in one and a half days. The Cape Town pitch was criticised for being treacherous from the very start of the game as 23 wickets fell on Day 1 of the Test match.
India vs South Africa, 2nd Test: Highlights
India however managed to eke out a win against the Proteas to level the series – their first ever draw since MS Dhoni’s team drew back in 2010/11.
“It’ll be one of our best Test match victories,” Rohit said after India’s seven-wicket win.
“Having not won here in Cape Town [before], obviously this puts it right up there with all the victories that we’ve had. It’s very hard to compare the Test matches that you play because every Test match has its own importance and own relevance. The Test match that we won at The Gabba as well. The last Test match that was lost by Australia in Brisbane was in 1988, I think. Nearly after 23, 24 years [32 years] we won the Test match there. It kind of became like their fortress. They never lose a test match there,” he further added.
SA vs IND, 2nd Test: Scorecard
Sharma compared the win to the historic Test win at Gabba where Rishabh Pant played a special innings to defeat Australia and clinch the Test series back in 2020/21. The below-strength India team winning the Test series became one of the biggest moments in cricketing folklore.
The win in Cape Town was a hard-fought victory for the Indian team as they were hammered by the South African side in the first Test match. India showed much better discipline in the second Test as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj ripped through the South African line-up in either innings.
“And the way we won that Test match as well was quite important. From where we came, we were 1-nil down, we won in Melbourne and then we drew the Test match in Sydney and then won in Brisbane. So you can’t really rank the Test matches, but this has to be right up there because we had not won here. That shows how important a venue this is for us to come here and perform. I give a lot of credit to our team to put up a performance like that and win the game,” Sharma concluded on the matter.
India will now shift their focus to a 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan at home and then host England in a 5-match Test series.
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