After a historic Cape Town victory to tie MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma makes fun of the Gabba triumph comparison

India’s draw series in South Africa has gone from being viewed as a team to being written off to being shown why they are a force to be reckoned with in Test cricket. The team captained by Rohit Sharma was expected to accomplish what no other Indian team has been able to accomplish in the previous 32 years: win a Test series in South Africa. However, the aspirations were dashed in less than three days when the visitors lost by innings in Centurion.

But just when it looked like the team was done, with many doubts raised about the lineup, the team surprised everyone by winning handily in Cape Town for the first time in seven visits Rohit, who achieved the same feat as the great MS Dhoni, was ecstatic and compared the record Cape Town victory to India’s triumph at the Gabba in the 2020–21 Test series in Australia.

Choosing to bat first, Mohammed Siraj completed with amazing figures of 6 for 15, folding South Africa for just 55 runs, their lowest all-out total since their readmission. After their lower order collapsed for nil runs in just 10 deliveries, India went ahead by 98 runs. Later, on the second day of the contest in Newlands, Aiden Markram put up a valiant fight with his century off 103 balls in the second innings, but the hosts could only muster a target of 79 runs, which was chased down in 12 overs for the cost of three wickets.

Speaking to the media following India’s seven-wicket triumph in the shortest Test match ever—five sessions—Rohit compared the team’s performance to the one they had achieved at Gabba three years prior. Ever since 1988, no visitor team had won at the stadium until that day.

It will rank among our best Test match triumphs. Since we’ve never triumphed in Cape Town, this clearly ranks among our greatest victories to date. Comparing the Test matches you play is extremely difficult because each one has unique significance and importance. We also won the Test match at The Gabba. I believe Australia’s last defeat in a test match in Brisbane occurred in 1988. There, over twenty-three years later, we emerged victorious in the Test match. It started to resemble their stronghold. There, they have never lost a test match,” Rohit remarked.

“It was also very significant how we won the Test match. We started the Test match with a 1-0 deficit, but we overcame it in Melbourne, drew the Sydney match, and eventually triumphed in Brisbane. Since we hadn’t triumphed here, you can’t truly rank the Test matches, but this one has to be at the top. That demonstrates the significance of this location for our performance. I think our team deserves a lot of respect for pulling off a victory with a performance like that.”

With the victory, Rohit also made history by being the second captain to lead India to a drawn Test series in South Africa, following Dhoni in the 2010–11 match, although a three-match match. In the first match, the hosts had won by an innings in Centurion, but India stormed back at Kingsmead with an 87-run victory. Jacques Kallis’s double tons had been in vain as the last game finished in a tie, despite Sachin Tendulkar scoring an incredible 146.

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