Indian captain Rohit Sharma has achieved a unique record with MS Dhoni in Test matches against South Africa in South Africa. India won the second Test in Cape Town by seven wickets to level the series at 1-1. In the process, Rohit became the second Indian Test captain after MS Dhoni to take a Test series in South Africa.
India lost by margins of 2-1 in 2018 and 2021. In 2018, India lost under Virat Kohli. In 2021, India won the first Test at Centurion under Virat Kohli but lost the next two matches.
Talking about 2010-11, South Africa won the first Test in Centurion and India took the series up a notch in Durban by winning the Test by 87 runs. Now Rohit has emulated MS Dhoni by drawing 1-1 in this recent series.
Rohit Sharma steps up a notch with MS Dhoni
South Africa claimed an innings victory in the first Test at Centurion. India had to prove a point and despite being bowled out on the first day of the Test match, India bounced back to level the series by winning the second Test.
South Africa was eliminated by 55 points on the first day. India were also bowled out for 153, gaining a crucial lead of 98 runs. The hosts in their second innings scored 176 thanks to Aiden Markram’s sixth Test ton (106), as the hosts set India a target of 79.
This time India were much more confident with their batting approach, Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring a spirited 28 off 23 balls to give the team a good start. Rhit Sharma was unbeaten on 17 off 22 balls. Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill scored 12 and 10 respectively. Shreyas Iyer scored the winning runs as India leveled the series.
After the victory in Cape Town, Rohit Sharma slammed the ICC for rating the World Cup final pitch in Ahmedabad below average. In the same vein, he said that the Indian team does not mind playing on courts like the one in Cape Town until the other teams do not make any fuss about the courses in India.
The Cape Town Test Match was the last test of his career for Dean Elgar. This was the 86th Test of his career and he did not score too many runs in his last outing. However, Elgar along with Jasprit Bumrah won the Player of the Series award. Elgar finished the series with 201 runs at an average of 67.00. His knock of 185 at Centurion was the difference between the two sides.
“Many good and incredible memories. I got it in 2012 on debut in Perth, I only missed one series and that was West Indies, I captained the first series. He has a special place in the house and he doesn’t go out, he only goes out to do his duty, but that’s done and dusted. So I’ll have to find him a special place. It’s my first one and I’m glad I finished it.” said Elgar as he recalled his glorious Test career.
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