India have ended their South Africa tour with a historic Test win in Cape Town, a contest that ended in record time. The Rohit Sharma-led side defeated their hosts well inside two days for a seven-wicket win which helped them draw the two-match series 1-1.
Rohit has rated the win on par with their Gaba heist during the 2020-21 tour of Australia. India had become the first team since 1988 to beat Australia at the venue in January 2021 which also helped them to a memorable 2-1 series win.
“It’ll be one of our best Test match victories,” Rohit told reporters after India’s win on Thursday. “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.”
“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,” he added.
The pitch at the Newlands Stadium for the second Test has copped heavy criticism from even South African coach after it offered inconsistent bounce.
Rohit said he knew it was going to be a challenge to bat on the surface and that his teammates had spoken about being prepared to cop blows on their bodies.
“It was not gonna be an easy pitch to bat on. So how much ever you can try and score, apply yourself, get hit on your body, it’s fine, but just go and put yourself ahead. If you have to take a blow, be ready for it. That’s something that we spoke of. To be honest, the top four or five batters showed a lot of grit. We knew that the first-innings lead here was going to be crucial,” he said.
After India skittled South Africa for 55 in their first innings, they found themselves on a solid ground with 153/4 before undergoing a stunning collapse of their own to lose final six wickets without adding a single run.
“Never thought we would lose six wickets for no runs. Little disappointing, but again that happens. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, they spearheaded our bowling attack. They put the ball in the right areas and let the pitch do the rest, and they got rewarded for it,” Rohit said.
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