For me, Mohammed Shami is among the best 3 seamers in the world currently: Virat Kohli

The Indian team created history on Thursday (December 30) winning the first Test against South Africa by 113 runs and became the first Asian team to win a Test match in Centurion. South Africa had only lost a single match in Centurion since 2001 and India had lost its previous two encounters in 2010 and 2018.

The South African batters looked pretty weak against the Indian bowling attack as only two batters managed to cross the 50-run mark in both innings. The Indian bowlers kept on asking difficult questions to the hosts right from the first ball and reaped rewards. Mohammed Shami was the most impressive bowler picking up a fifer in the first innings and in the process, also completed his 200 wickets in Test cricket.

At the end of the match, Virat Kohli praised the performance of the bowlers and called Shami one of the best pacers in the world currently. Kohli also mentioned that South African batters were able to score around 40 runs in the first innings because Jasprit Bumrah didn’t bowl much as he twisted his ankle while bowling.

He also stressed the fact that he knew the bowlers would deliver for the team as they have done the same previously especially away from home. “Knew the bowlers will do the job. Spoke about it in the change room – the fact he didn’t bowl much in the first innings, it allowed SA to get around 40 more runs (Bumrah),” Kohli said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Just the way these guys bowl together has been a hallmark of our team getting a result in difficult situations. Absolutely world-class talent (Shami). 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,” he added.

We were in pole position with anything over 300-320 – Virat Kohli

Kohli also praised the Indian openers, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal who added 117 runs for the first wicket in the first innings after India won the toss. They became only the third Indian opening pair to put on a stand of over 100 runs in South Africa. Kohli also mentioned that he knew the team was in a great position after crossing the 300-run mark in the first innings.

“Got off to the perfect start. Have to understand one day was washed out – shows how well we played. It’s always a difficult place to play against SA (Centurion). The discipline that the batters showed,” said Kohli. 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,” he added.

India and South Africa will play the second Test in Johannesburg on January 3 where India won the last time in 2018. The Indian skipper did mention that the team loves to play at this venue. “Got so much confidence out of Johannesburg last time. It’s a ground we love playing at,” the 33-year-old signed off.