'Proud' Virat Kohli shares a picture from the Indian dressing room

Trailing the series by a 0-2 margin, it is a daunting task to apply yourself to an uneven pitch in a dead rubber game. India though had a lot to play for at the Wanderers, and they just did that with a lot of character. A thumping 63-run victory, courtesy yet another outstanding performance by the bowlers, followed by some gritty batting by the Indian batsmen helped them clinch a memorable win.

The Indian skipper was at his animated best and posted a picture on social media with his team after the hard day’s play. Kohli wrote that this day would be special for him and the team as the team had their backs to the wall.

“Proud prouder proudest. Hats off to the whole team for showing character throughout. This day will always be special. Jai hind” he wrote.

Indian puts on a collective show

Kohli scored a fifty in the first innings and played an important hand of 41 in the second innings. Apart from him, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane struck a timely 48 to add to India’s 247 in the second innings.

“We required some character playing on a pitch that was very difficult. I think our guys showed great guts through the four days. We took the challenge. Batting first wasn’t a call that went down well with some people, but we knew it was the right call. We knew we were close in the first two games. This was perfect. Elgar and Amla played well, although it was not easy. You expect that from South Africa.” the skipper said after the victory.

Kohli lauds bowlers’ effort

It was the first instance where both the sides managed to pick all the 60 wickets. Indian pacers were impressive since the very first Test and made it count in the final game.

“But one thing I know is that when wickets go down, in pressure situations, it’s very difficult to come back. And the other good thing was we didn’t leak runs. The bowlers are a big positive. Sixty wickets in a series is rare, and if the batsmen step up, they understand they need to and they did in this game and the win feels really great. Need bowlers confident to win Tests and as batsmen, we need to think about our game, prepare better and I’m sure we can win more often away from home.

Proud prouder proudest. Hats off to the whole team for showing character throughout. This day will always be special. Jai hind pic.twitter.com/z2T0er5fLd

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 27, 2018