South Africa vs India Test Series Stats Review: Kagiso Rabada, Rishabh Pant shatters flurry of records in hard-fought series

India’s dream of winning a maiden Test series in South Africa got shattered as the hosts won the third and final Test in Cape Town by seven wickets to bag the series 2-1 . After losing the opening Test in Centurion, Dean Elgar and his men made a terrific comeback in the Johannesburg Test as the Proteas chased down a target of 240 with the help of their skipper himself who scored a brilliant 96*. Pacers Kagiso Rabada and young Marco Jansen along with batter Keegan Petersen were on song in the Cape Town Test to deny India their first-ever series win in the rainbow nation.

Speaking of the newbie Petersen, he scored 276 runs in the three Tests to finish on top as the highest run-scorer in the series. Captain Dean Elgar was impressive too as he ended up with the second-most runs (235) across three matches. For the visitors, KL Rahul topped the runs chart as he amassed 226 runs, the third-most runs in the series.

Rabada and Jansen both made lives difficult for the Indian batters in all three matches as they shared 39 scalps between them, eventually becoming the first and second highest wicket-takers. Certainly, Jansen and Petersen were the silver lining for the Proteas against the top-ranked Test side. For India, Mohammed Shami finished on top with 14 wickets, the fourth highest in the series.

India has now played eight Test series in South Africa since 1992/93 but failed to win a single series. The Asian giants have lost seven out of the eight series with one series ending up 1-1 (3) in 2010/11. With this series done and dusted, India’s next Test assignment is a Two-match series against Sri Lanka at home in late February while South Africa heads to New Zealand for two-game series starting February 17, 2022.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from South Africa vs India, 3 match Test series:

209 – Mohammed Shami completed 200 wickets in Test matches.

100 – Virat Kohli reached 100 catches landmark in the longest format of the game.

8 – India has participated in eight Test series with South Africa in South Africa and failed to win a single one.

7 – India lost their seventh Test series in the rainbow nation.

12.66 – Aiden Markram amassed an average of just 12.66 in six innings this series.

20 – Speedster Kagiso Rabada equaled Allan Donald and is now joint-second with him for most wickets in a series against India in South Africa. Donald took 20 scalps twice in the 1992/93 and 1996/97 series. Dale Steyn is on top who snared 21 wickets in the 2010/11 series.

1 – Rishabh Pant becomes the first Asian wicket-keeper to slam three centuries in Tests in SENA countries. Pakistan’s Moin Khan had scored two hundred in these countries.

4 – Markram got dismissed by Mohammed Shami for four out of six times in the series.

3 – Pant has now three Test hundreds outside Asia. Other Indian wicketkeepers Vijay Manjrekar, Ajay Ratra, and Wriddhiman Saha all had one century each.

4 – Pant recorded his fourth century in Test matches. All four hundred have come in four different countries.

5 – Markram got out to Shami for the fifth time in Test matches which is the most he has been dismissed against. Cummins and Herath have taken his wicket four times in Tests.

3 – Kohli has now lost three Tests as captain in South Africa which is the most by any Indian skipper. MS Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar all had lost two Tests each.

4 – Fourth instance of India losing the Test series after winning the first Test. The other three instances were against England in 1984/85, against the Proteas in 2006/07, and against England again in 2012.

14 – Mayank Agarwal has now scored just one fifty in his last 14 away Test innings.

7 – With seven five-wicket hauls, Jasprit Bumrah is now joint-top with Kapil Dev and Irfan Pathan for as many hauls by Indian pacer after 27 Tests.

5 – Temba Bavuma got out to Mohammed Shami for the fifth time which is the most he has been dismissed against a bowler.

102 – Rishabh Pant completed 100 catches in Test matches.

26 – Rishabh Pant became the fastest Indian wicketkeeper to effect 100 dismissals in Tests. Pant achieved the feat in 26 matches while MS Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha both had recorded the milestone in 36 games.

408 – Rabada completed 400 wickets in international cricket.

79 – Kohli recorded his highest score (79) since his last international century in 2019.

1032 – Kohli became the first Asian captain to register 1000 runs across formats in South Africa. Sourav Ganguly with 911 runs is the second name on the list.

50 – Kagiso Rabada completed 50 matches in his Test career.

158 – Kohli scored his second-slowest (158 balls) fifty in Tests. He took most deliveries (171) against England in 2012.