India became the first Asian team to win a Test in Cape Town.
The Test match was also historic as it ended in just a day and a half and was the shortest in terms of deliveries, with just 642 balls bowled in the entire match.
It was an eventful Test match which saw South Africa getting decimated for 55 runs after winning the toss and opting to bat first. Mohammed Siraj picked 6/15, his career-best figures. In response, India posted 153 runs, despite being 153/4 at one time.
South African bowlers demolished the last 6 Indian wickets in just 11 balls without conceding a run, another first instance of such in Test history.
Aiden Markram then scored a century on day two to take South Africa to 176 in the second innings, but it wasn’t enough as India chased down the 79-run target with ease, and won the Test by 7 wickets to level the series 1-1.
This was India’s first win in Cape Town and they are the first Asian nation to win a Test at this venue; hence Rohit Sharma called this Test win one of the best ever.
He also said it is hard to compare rate Test wins, as he felt that winning a Test at Gabba, Brisbane in 2021, where no visiting team could beat the Aussies for 33 years, was as big a deal as this win.
"It will be one of our best Test match victories. Having never won here, it's right up there with all the victories we have had. It's hard to compare Tests that you win elsewhere. Hard to rank these Tests. Every Test match has its own relevance and importance. The game in Gabba. The last time Australia lost there was in 1988, I think. It became their fortress and the way we won that Test was important," the skipper said.
"You can't really rank the Tests. It's right up there though. That shows how important a venue it is to come here and win. Credit to the team,” he added.
He said, in a roundabout manner, that he would love to play in a three-match Test series but he would take this draw which was a good start to 2024.
"That's not in our hands. I can't decide fon ixtures, I would do something else entirely. What's there is there. We take pride in playing this series. We lost the first game, they played well. We won here, we played well. Cape Town, we have never won here, for this young group, this is a matter of pride for us. We can take confidence from this series," said the Indian skipper.
With this win, India is back at the top of the WTC 2023-25 points table and Rohit said that after losing points due to slow over-rate in the Centurion Test loss, it was important to win this encounter.
"Winning Test matches is important. This start to the new year is good. But in my opinion, I didn't think about starting ohe new year with a win. We also lost a couple of points due to over rate, so winning this was important,” Rohit Sharma said.
(PTI inputs)