Rohit Sharma joins an elite list of captains after Cape Town win

With series decider on the line, it came as a shock to every Indian cricket fan when Virat Kohli didn’t walk out for the toss last night at Cape Town. It was in fact, Rohit Sharma who took charge of the team as Kohli was sidelined due to a stiff back. He was replaced by Dinesh Karthik in the middle.

Rohit Sharma has previously donned the captain’s armband during Sri Lanka’s visit and successfully steered the team to victory. And in Kohli’s absence, Rohit stepped up once again for the crucial fixture. Despite a lacklustre campaign with the bat in the T20I series, Rohit marshalled his troops well.

India managed to keep the South African batsmen under a tight leash in the chase as India ran out comfortable winners in Cape Town. With the win, Rohit now joins an elite list of captains who have won the first four T20Is in charge of their respective teams. Rohit is the sixth captain to achieve the feat.

Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, Lasith Malinga are the only other cricketers to have won their first four T20I matches on the trot as skippers of their respective teams.

Match Details

Despite some nervy moments towards the end, Rohit Sharma showed some smart captaincy to keep things under control. Christiaan Jonker played a brilliant cameo at the end to keep South Africa in the hunt after the Proteas failed to keep up with the asking rate throughout the innings.

However, Rohit had Bhuvneshwar Kumar to thank as the Indian pacer kept his nerve, giving away only 11 off the last over when South Africa needed 19 runs to win.  In the end, South Africa could manage 165 for 6, chasing a target of 173.

Virat Kohli receives the ICC mace

After the culmination of the match ceremony at Newlands, India skipper Virat Kohli was presented the ICC Test Championship Mace and a prize of US $1 million by ICC Cricket Hall of Famers Sunil Gavaskar and Graeme Pollock.

India has ensured the number one spot after their victory in the third and final Test at Johannesburg against the Proteas last month. The win had ensured that no team can move ahead of India in the Test rankings at the 3 April cut-off date.

Don’t miss any news in and around ‘cricket‘, stay updated with CricTracker.com