Before arriving in South Africa, India”s record in the country was below average to be brutally honest. It”s a country where India has won a world T20 and reached a world cup final but the bilateral record was very poor against the Proteas.
India had only won two of their seventeen tests and won only five of their twenty-eight ODI games, losing eight of the tests and twenty-one of the ODIs respectively.
In 2018 though India has salvaged or corrected the numbers somewhat, Virat Kohli led side lost the test series in the first two test itself which many put down to not arriving early enough for adequate preparations and slightly wrong selections, since then though the team has not looked back.
India won the historic test match in Johannesburg where the pitch was really tough and it took real courage & bravery by the Indian batsmen and skills by their fast bowlers to do the job. It was only their third test win in Southafrica.
Then the current historic achievement happened led by Virat Kohli, India has now won their first bilateral one day series in the rainbow nation.
The real difference between the two sides happened to be the variety in their bowling attack in the end, while Southafrica had a lot of sameness to their ranks India on the other end did the body blow through their world-class wrist spinners and their quality fast bowling
The South African fast bowlers and spinners failed to many any real impact, India”s two wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav took 33 wickets between them in the series. And Jasprit Bhumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar later Shardul Thakur in the final ODI allowed the spin twins to bowl with a good platform by taking wickets early in the games especially of the good players versus spin like Hashim Amla
While Southafrica batsmen couldn”t stand and understand the two wrist spinners, India”s batsmen especially their top 3 did the job against whatever Southafrica put across them.
Virat Kohli the Indian captain scored 558 runs in the series with fantastic hundreds in Durban, Cape Town, and Centurion. Shikhar Dhawan was very consistent as well getting India off to fantastic starts and scored a hundred in the Johannesburg ODI Rohit Sharma scored the hundred in Port Elizabeth which gave India a score to seal down the series there in itself.
India”s world-class top 3 and their quality bowling made sure India finish the series with a 5-1 scoreline.
To celebrate this historic win the twitter joined in and really appreciated the team”s efforts and congratulated them on a memorable feat.
Remarkable innings by @imVkohli to get to his 35th ODI century. Congratulations #TeamIndia on winning an ODI series for the first time in South Africa. Great achievement 🇮🇳 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/lwvazFwnww
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 16, 2018
35th …. Greatest Ever ODI player … #Fact … @imVkohli #SAvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 16, 2018
One of the best ODI innings I have seen in the recent past. Congratulations, @imVkohli! Excellent work by #TeamIndia to win an ODI series for the first time in South Africa. Way to go, boys✌️✌️ #SAvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/IjAlV2YpHp
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) February 16, 2018
India captain @imVkohli is the Player of the Series – the first player ever to score over 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series! 🙌 #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/UCIoL6gF39
— ICC (@ICC) February 16, 2018
800 international runs for Virat Kohli in South Africa in 2018 in just 43 days! 😱#SAvInd
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) February 16, 2018
100 toh mazaak bana rakha hai bande ne. Adbhut , Kohli is just unbelievable. Century No 35 for probably the greatest ODI batsman #SAvIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) February 16, 2018
Most runs in an bilateral ODI series by any batsman in SA and also most runs by an Indian batsman in any bilateral ODI series overseas. Kohli looking sublime again and it is such a usual happening , these days #SAvIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 16, 2018
He is off again … @imVkohli … Grestest ever chaser … #SAvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 16, 2018
Yeh #ChaKu humka dedo Thakur .
33 wickets for ChaKu , stabbed South Africa brutally. Absolutely brilliant. Oh, by the way Thakur ne bhi aaj 4 wickets liye. Well bowled. 5-1 would be wonderful #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/qgvy22mEk6— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 16, 2018
Captain @imVkohli in this #SAvIND ODI so far:
🏅200th ODI inning
🏅Fewest innings by an 🇮🇳 to take 100 ODI catches
🏅2nd captain to score 450+ runs in a bilateral ODI series
🏅Fewest innings to reach 9500 runs in ODIs
🏅Became fastest to 17000 runs in Intl cricket #PlayBold— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 16, 2018
Winning 5-1 with this bunch of highly talented individuals is quite special. Will cherish this historic feat for a long long time! #SAvIND #Winning pic.twitter.com/l64sqSJ6rG
— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) February 17, 2018
Picture perfect post a 5-1 series victory. Congratulations to the bunch that made it possible #TeamIndia #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/W0Cy2KUeKv
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2018
ODI hundreds scored by Virat Kohli as captain: 13 (in 49 matches)
ODI hundreds scored by all Pakistan captains: 12 (in 889 matches)#SAvIND #INDvSA #justsaying #RandomThoughts— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) February 16, 2018
At this rate he's going to get a patent approved on scoring one-day hundreds. No, nobody in the current crop does it like him. @imVkohli You've taken the sponsor & ground name too seriously #MomentumODI #Centurion #SAvIND #ViratKohli 👏🏻
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) February 16, 2018
Many congratulations to the Indian team on an incredible 5-1 series win. Virat Kohli was simply outstanding but the bowlers, especially Chahal and Kuldeep set it up for India with 33 wickets between them. #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/AYtCtUoLhE
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 16, 2018
Just catching up on scores around the world, @imVkohli No 35 💯 this guy has taken it to an unattainable level. #ODI #SAvIND
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) February 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/964547975824338945
Congratulations 🎉 Virat Kohli 👏👏👏Man of the Match and Man of the Series #SAvIND #SABCcricket pic.twitter.com/ywIovWgIyg
— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) February 16, 2018
