India vs South Africa: Pacers performance hallmark of our team’s results in recent years: Virat Kohli

India
vs
South
Africa,
1st
Test:
Virat
Kohli
and
band
score
historic
win
at
Centurion,
go
1-0
up

The
victorious
Indian
skipper
said
the
credit
for
the
Test
team’s
fine
results
overseas
in
recent
years
goes
to
the
pace
attack.
Kohli
rated
Mohammed
Shami
as
one
of
the
best
seamers
in
the
world
currently.

The
formidable
India
pace
unit
destroyed
a
listless
South
Africa
to
fashion
an
emphatic
113-run
win
in
the
first
Test
of
the
three-match
Test
series,
setting
the
team
on
course
for
a
maiden
series
victory
in
the
country.

Following
the
team’s
emphatic
win,
the
Indian
skipper
Kohli
heaped
praise
on
his
teammates.
“Just
the
way
these
guys
bowl
together,
it’s
just
a
hallmark
of
our
team
getting
a
result
from
that
position,
not
just
in
this
game
but
also
in
the
last
two-three
years,”
Kohli
said
during
the
post-match
presentation
ceremony.

Indian
openers
KL
Rahul
and
Mayank
Agarwal
put
India
in
the
driver’s
seat
with
a
big
opening
stand
and
speaking
about
the
win,
Kohli
said
the
opening
partnership
made
a
huge
difference
to
the
outcome
of
the
first
Test
match.

India
vs
South
Africa
1st
Test:
Man
of
the
Match,
Stats
&
Records,
Post-Match
Presentation,
Highlights

“The
discipline
that
the
batters
showed…
Winning
the
toss,
batting
first
overseas
is
a
tough
challenge.
Credit
to
Mayank
and
KL
the
way
they
set
it
up.
We
knew
we
were
in
pole
position
with
anything
over
300-320.
We
have
a
lot
of
belief
in
our
bowling
unit
and
knew
the
bowlers
will
get
the
job
done,”
Kohli
stated.

The
win
on
Thursday
is
India’s
fist
win
at
Centurion
and
the
India
skipper,
recalling
his
team’s
fantastic
victory
at
Wanderers
in
the
final
Test
of
the
2018
Test
series,
said
that
result
from
the
past
instilled
plenty
of
self
belief.

“It’s
a
top
start
for
us.
We
have
to
understand
one
day
was
washed
out
—
shows
how
well
we
played.
It’s
always
a
difficult
place
to
play
against
South
Africa.
We
got
so
much
confidence
out
of
Johannesburg
last
time.
It’s
a
ground
we
love
playing
at.”
The
second
match
is
set
to
be
played
at
Johannesburg
from
January
3-7.

Team
India
breach
fortress
Centurion:
Cricketing
fraternity
hails
Virat
Kohli
and
band
for
historic
win

The
skipper
had
special
words
of
praise
for
Shami,
who
pocketed
a
five-wicket
haul
enroute
to
his
200th
Test
wicket.
“He
is
absolutely
world
class
talent.
For
me
he’s
in
the
best
three
seamers
in
the
world
at
the
moment.
His
strong
wrist,
his
seam
position
and
his
ability
to
hit
a
length
consistently.
Very,
very
happy
for
him
to
get
200
wickets
and
have
an
impactful
performances,”
said
Kohli.

Indian
pacer
Jasprit
Bumrah
could
not
bowl
a
lot
in
the
first
innings
and
Kohli
felt
his
team
could
have
got
a
bigger
lead
in
the
first
innings
if
that
wasn’t
the
case.

“Spoke
about
it
in
the
change
room
—
the
fact
he
didn’t
bowl
much
in
the
first
innings,
it
allowed
South
Africa
to
get
around
40
more
runs.
Since
he
didn’t
bowl
much
in
the
first
innings,
it
helped
opposition
get
those
extra
runs.”

Meanwhile,
South
African
skipper
Dean
Elgar,
who
top-scored
for
his
side
with
a
fighting
77
in
the
second
innings,
said
there
were
few
positives
for
his
team
but
was
left
disappointed
with
the
batting
unit.
This
is
only
the
third
instance
when
South
Africa
had
been
dismissed
under
200
in
each
innings
of
a
Test
match
at
home
since
their
re-admission
in
1991.

“Obviously
not
a
nice
thing
knowing
we
lost
a
Test
here.
Did
a
few
things
wrong.
Lot
of
positives
coming
out
that
we
can
use
in
the
next
two.
Always
the
nature
here.
Always
going
to
be
tough
because
the
wicket’s
playing
slower
(first
morning),”
Elgar
said
after
the
match.

He
added,
“Indian
openers
did
the
fundamentals
right.
We
didn’t
quite
execute
the
lengths
well.
After
some
good
chats
our
bowlers
executed
the
lengths
and
restricted
India
to
what
we
thought
was
a
par
score.

“New
ball
is
something
you
have
to
get
through
playing
here.
Can’t
emphasise
enough
on
the
hard
work
our
bowlers
put
in
to
get
20
wickets.
Our
batters
let
us
down.
I’d
say
the
batting
was
the
difference
between
the
two
sides.

“We’ll
have
a
little
sit-down
with
myself
and
the
management
to
strategise.
Didn’t
do
a
lot
of
wrong
things.
Not
all
doom
and
gloom
for
us.
We
thrive
under
the
pressure
which
is
a
positive
for
us,”
signed
off
the
South
African
skipper.

Source:
(With
inputs
from
PTI)