Team India skipper Rohit Sharma feels that the Cape Town win is among the top test wins for India along with the Gabba 2021 win. India defeated South Africa in the second test of the two-match series on Thursday, January 4 at the Newlands, Cape Town. They chased down 79 runs with seven wickets to spare.
The pitch at the Newlands posed a challenge to the batters due to its unpredictable nature. The match got finished in under two days as the batters struggled to stay at the crease. South Africa was bowled out for 55 and 176 runs in the match, while India scored 153 and 80/3. Mohammed Siraj won the Player of the Match award as he took seven wickets in the match. Reflecting on the win, the Indian skipper said,
“It’ll be one of our best Test match victories. 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 importance and 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’y rank the Test matches, but this has to be right up there because we had not won here. That shows how important a venue 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 top five batters showed a lot of grit: Rohit Sharma
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma also revealed the conversation with the batters before the Test. He expressed that he had spoken to the players to be ready to take some blows on their bodies as it was going to be a challenging surface to bat on. Rohit Sharma also added that the Indian top-order showed a lot of grit in the match. He said,
“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.”
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
