"I give a lot of credit to our team" - Rohit Sharma after India's win in the second Test

Indian captain Rohit Sharma ranked Team India’s win in Cape Town among their all-time best wins, considering their poor record at the venue and being 0-1 down in the series as well. However, Team India had never won a Test match at the venue and became the first Asian team to dethrone the Proteas at Newlands. Playing a must-win game to level the series, Indian bowlers did well to emerge victorious by seven wickets. He also compared the win to India’s famous victory at the Gabba in Brisbane in January 2021.

Speaking at the press conference after the win, a happy Rohit Sharma 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 own importance and own relevance,” Rohit said.

“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,” Rohit Sharma continued. “So you can’t really rank the Test matches, but this has to be right up there because we had not won here. That shows how important a venue this 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.”

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However, the result meant Team India drew for only the second time in nine Test tours they had in South Africa, with the other instance being the 2010-11 series as well. Notably, it was also the shortest Test ever played, with only 642 balls bowled across the four innings a swell. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma also praised fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his attacking batting in India’s fourth-innings run-chase. Despite chasing down a below-par total of 79, the surface helped the pacers. However, Jaiswal scored a brisk 28 off 23 deliveries and helped India win.

“Any score to get on that pitch was going to be challenging. Yashasvi Jaiswal actually played quite freely. It is something that we discussed when we went to bat that we want to take the bowlers on. If the ball is in an area, we need to put it where it’s supposed to go. Especially in this country, we know batting is very difficult. Especially when you play on pitches like that, obviously it’s tough. You’ve gotta show a lot of faith. You’ve gotta show a lot of trust. And especially in the guys who have come here for the first time, uh, you know, Shubman Gill, Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer,” concluded Rohit Sharma.