South Africa vs India 2018: Best moments of the tour

Team India’s long and gruelling tour of South Africa finally came to a rather tame end after the man who was in the headlines throughout not playing the final game. But the contest between bat and ball over the last couple of months was impeccable though very few expected the ODI series to be one-sided. However, the humdinger in the three-match T20I rubber made amends for the earlier lows in the limited overs format. When the Test series started India were tipped as the best to tour to the country ever but they lost the first couple of matches only to attract a lot of ire from the fans and the media. The team took everything on the face and won the last match famously only to turn around the things in One-Day Internationals. The wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were at their best to bamboozle the Proteas batsmen and then there was Virat Kohli who was batting on another planet. The emotions ebbed and flowed throughout the tour between both the teams and the cricket fans had some of the best moments to enjoy. Even the players enjoyed being part of the sporting moments during the course of the competitive tour. Here we bring you the some of the best moments during India’s stay in the rainbow nation: 1. Du Plessis kissing Rabada Faf du Plessis & Kagiso Rabada. (Photo Source: Twitter) The first Test match between India and South Africa was nicely poised as the visitors had bundled their opponents for 286 runs on the first day. However, their bowlers spit venom on the Indian batsmen and reduced them to 92/7 on the next day and were on course to take a huge lead. But Hardik Pandya, playing his first Test in the country, had other ideas. He counter-attacked cleverly which caught Faf du Plessis and his men off guard. He smashed all the bowlers out of the park with his unorthodox strokes and stitched a 99-run partnership with Bhuvneshwar Kumar which took India close to 200. Just when everyone thought Pandya will score his maiden ton in the country, Kagiso Rabada scalped him with a bouncer on 93. It was a huge relief for the skipper as he came and kissed the bowler on his forehead while congratulating him on the wicket. The image of the same went viral on social media as a lot of memes were also made by the fans. Even Du Plessis and Rabada enjoyed a lot as they were left laughing at the moment. 2. Virat Kohli consoling Aiden Markram Indian captain Virat Kohli consoles Aiden Markram of South Africa as the umpire signals his dismissal. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images) The second Test match between India and South Africa was to be played at the Supersport Park in Centurion. The home side was leading the series by 1-0 and opted to bat first on a good batting track. The opening duo of Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram saw through the new ball and then latched on to any of the freebies offered by the opposition bowlers. The latter especially played some delightful strokes which were absolutely pleasing to the eyes. Both of them defied any wicket to India until lunch. However, the visitors struck soon in the second session as Ravi Ashwin sent back Markram who was only 6 runs away from his century. He was absolutely disconsolate after missing his ton but the Indian skipper Virat Kohli who is mostly animated after picking up a wicket went to the youngster and consoled him for the same. “Well played, you were unlucky to get out,” were his words for Markram which earned praises from all the corners of the cricketing fraternity. Moreover, Markram himself was happy to hear the words of wisdom from Kohli and hailed him for the same. 3. Kohli saying ‘Shaam tak khelenge’ Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter) It was in the second Test when India got a sub-continent like pitch and had a great chance to level the series. They had bundled out the hosts on 335 runs which was a below-par total. But India started off badly with the bat losing KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara with the score only reading 28. The duo of Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli then looked comfortable during their stay and cautiously started to rebuild the innings. India’s score was 80/2 and the tea break was just around the corner when Kohli, who was at the non-striker’s end, was caught saying to Vijay, “Shaam tak khelenge, inki g***d fat jaegi” (If we can play until the evening they will be scared ****less”).” The stump mic did its job and what followed was the jokes and memes on the same. Moreover, the visitors lost the game and Twitterati was not behind in trolling the skipper Kohli. Kohli to M Vijay in hindi, “Bahut badhiya…Shaam tak khelenge to inki GAAND phat jaaegi” means “Brilliant! If we carry on playing until the evening, they are F***ED” // Now who is getting F***ED? Your team is 35/3 Zero respect to opponent players and unsportsmanlike. pic.twitter.com/VBxa8Y8TxK — George AB Addict (@VijayIsMyLife) January 16, 2018 4. Imran Tahir’s sportsmanship Imran Tahir congratulates Virat Kohli for his brilliant knock. (Photo Source: Twitter) After the tussle in the Tests, it was time for the ODIs to follow where India were expected to be a better side. As it turned out in the first ODI, Virat Kohli slammed yet another century in the chase and won the game for his team. However, in quest of finishing the game, he was holed out in the deep with the Men in Blue just 8 runs shy of the victory. But while Kohli was making a long walk back to the pavilion, everyone witnessed a sportsmanship moment. Imran Tahir chased the batsman all the way and congratulated him for the wonderful knock. Interestingly, he also took his cap off during his gesture and won the hearts of the cricket fans. Moreover, the whole series was played in the same spirit and Tahir led the way for the same. 5. Dhoni guiding the wrist spinners Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India. (Photo by Richard Huggard/Gallo Images/Getty Images) The six-match ODI series was all about the wrist-spinning duo of the Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav as they absolutely bamboozled South Africa. Both of them shared as many as 33 wickets between them during the course of the series which was also a record. Though they were helped by the guidance from the veteran MS Dhoni from behind the wickets whose comments were caught on the stump mic while doing the same. Time and again Mahi used to give them the tips about the footwork from the batsmen which helped them a lot. During the third ODI, some of the hilarious comments from Dhoni were recorded on the stump mic which eventually proved that he leads the team whenever the things are getting tight during the match. Here are some of the comments: ball apne aap se ghum raha hai, kuch karne ki zarurat nahi dekhna Miller aaj anda marega (Miller will score duck today) iska pair idhar gir raha hai cheeku fir seedha hoja (to Virat Kohli) do kadam peeche rehna, samne main dekhunga, badhiya… badhiya… 6. ABD congratulating Kohli Virat Kohli & AB de Villiers after the game. (Photo Source: Twitter) While the Men in Blue dominated the first three One-Day Internationals of the six-match series, Proteas were boosted by the return of AB de Villiers for the Pink ODI. His comeback infused the much-needed energy in the side and they managed to pull one back on the visitors. However, it was once again one-way traffic in the last couple of matches with India sealing the series by 5-1. Kohli smashed his third century of the series and fittingly finished the modest chase with the disdainful drive past mid-on in the last ODI. De Villiers was the first one to congratulate the Indian captain on the victory and both of them hugged each other which was termed as one of the best moments of the tour. Both play for the same franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and respect each other a lot. They would love to continue the same in the upcoming edition as well. 7. Dhoni using cuss words for Pandey (Photo Source: Twitter) Team India was leading the T20I series and it was in the second game when the top order of the team endured a rare failure. They were reduced to 90/4 halfway through the innings which brought MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey together in the middle. Both of them got their eyes in and then took the attack to the opposition. However, the hilarious incident took place in the last over when Dhoni was on strike and trying to make his partner aware of something. But Pandey was not looking at him and had to face the wrath of the former skipper. Dhoni was livid on him and was caught saying on the stump mic as, “Oye bh****ke, idhar dekh le. Udhar kya dekh raha hai?” While it only proved that the captain cool is also a human and get angry, the moment was enough for the social media to take over and make it a trending topic. It is also being said that he never used cuss words for his partner, only Mahi can unveil the truth about the same. For more South Africa vs India updates follow CricTracker.com

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South Africa vs India 2018: Best moments of the tour

These moments kept the fans engaged right through.

4. Imran Tahir’s sportsmanship

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