Rahul: 2021 will go down as one of the greatest years in Indian cricket history

From a near impossible win at the Gabba with a secondstring side to walloping a hapless South Africa in their own backyard 2021 can easily go down in the annals as ldquoone of the greatest in Indian cricketrdquo opener KL Rahul asserted on Thursday after his side breached the Centurion fortress with a 113run winBetween the start and finish of the year India also recorded creditable Test victories at the Lordrsquos and the OvalRahul was an architect in all these milestone wins on more than one occasion He had scored a hundred in Indiarsquos win at the LordrsquoslsquoSuper special yearrsquoHaving set the tone with his first innings hundred the standin vicecaptain for the South Africa series summed up the year when the Indian team became the first Asian nation to win a Test at the CenturionldquoItrsquos a super super special year for team India The kind of achievements that we have gotten this year has been truly special I think it will go down as one of the greatest years in Indian cricket historyrdquo Rahul said at the post match press conferenceldquoIt has taken a lot of hardwork and discipline We have worked really hard as a team for few yearsrdquo added RahulThe target of 305 on a track with a lot of uneven bounce was always out of question for a South African unit that is low on quality and the script unfolded as per the narrative setThe home team folded for 191 in 68 overs to give India a 10 lead in threematch seriesSuch was the command of Indian pacers that they even took rain out of equation despite one full day being lostIt was pity to see South Africa that boasted of some great names of the yore couldnrsquot even post 200 runs in the both the innings with skipper Dean Elgarrsquos 77 off 156 balls not exactly being a saving graceFor India the four pacers took 18 wickets between them and Ravichandran Ashwin wrapped up the South African tail just after the lunch session to complete formalityThe great dressing room atmosphere has also contributed to a great performance and not to forget the preparation part said Rahul ldquoYes the dressing room atmosphere is amazing at the moment It is a great Test victory No Asian team has come here and won in Centurion and it speaks of kind of work we have put in in last two weeks leading up to this Test matchldquoWe worked really hard as a team and we really had a lot of fun at training and at practicerdquo the senior opener saidComplete performanceRahul termed it as a complete team performance having set the tone in the first game of the series ldquoTo go out there in the first game of the series and put up a performance like that which is a complete team performance it makes us happy We can enjoy this victory for a day and get back to training and start focussing on the next Test matchrdquo said Rahul2The No of times India have won four Tests outside Asia in a calendar year Brisbane Lordrsquos Oval Centurion The previous instance was in 2018 Jorsquoburg Nottingham Adelaide MelbourneBrief scoresIndia 327 amp 174 beat SA 197 amp 191 D Elgar 77 T Bavuma 35 J Bumrah 350 M Shami 363 R Ashwin 218 M Siraj 247 by 113 runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever