India in South Africa: Can Virat Kohli rewrite a gloomy history?

2006-07 series led by Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag; India lost Test series 1-2; ODI series 0-4; won the only T20 game

The 2006-07 series, the fourth India played on South African soil, started on a disastrous note as the hosts humiliated the visitors 4-0 in a five-game bilateral series. The South Africans, led by Graeme Smith, won the second game by 157 runs, third by 106 runs, fourth by 80 runs and the fifth by 9 wickets after the first game was washed out. India could reach 200 in the only game in these four games, bringing back the memories of the 1992-93 tour. These games were led by Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag after the former sustained a finger injury.

India, however, bounced back well in the three-match Test series that followed. They won the first game at Johannesburg – their first-ever in South Africa – thanks to an impressive bowling performance. S Sreesanth, whose on-field antics against Andre Nel are still fresh in the memory of the Indian fans, did particularly well in this series and finished as the highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps.

The visitors, however, squandered the advantage and lost the next two Tests at Durban and Cape Town to a superior South African performance, losing the series 1-2. Shaun Pollock bagged the man of the series awards in both the ODI and Test series. For India, Sourav Ganguly (214) was the highest run-getter in the Tests while in the ODIs, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni (139) who accumulated the most runs. Zaheer Khan (6) was India’s best bowler in the ODIs.

Between the ODI and Test series, India also tasted success as they beat South Africa by 6 wickets in the only T20 the tour featured. It was the first-ever T20 encounter between the two sides. Dinesh Karthik was adjudged the man of the match for his match-winning 31 not out.