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South Africa no match to Team India: Harbhajan backs Virat Kohli & Co. to win maiden Test series in SA

WION Web Team
New Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Dec 31, 2021, 08:14 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has backed Virat Kohli-led Team India to win their maiden Test series on South African soil following the series opener at Centurion.

India romped past South Africa by 113 runs to win the first Test at SuperSpork Park, Centurion on Thursday (December 30) and go 1-0 up in the three-match series. Everything clicked for the visitors from the word go as they went onto win their first-ever Test at Centurion, which was SA's fortress since 2014. 

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Kohli & Co. rode on KL Rahul's 123 to post 327 all-out. In reply, Proteas fell like nine pins to be all-out for 197, courtesy Mohammed Shami's five-fer, to concede a 130-run lead. In their second essay, India managed only 174 but setup a competitive 305-run target for the hosts. On Day 5, Dean Elgar-led Proteas resumed at 94-4 and got dismissed for 191 to lose the clash by 113 runs. 

Thus, India are now one step closer to winning their maiden Test series in the African nation. Ahead of the second Test, which gets underway on January 3 at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, former spinner Harbhajan Sigh feels Kohli & Co. are too dominant infront of the hapless Proteas and will get past them in one of the two remaining Tests to win the series. 

"We’ve spoken about it earlier as well that this series will present plenty of opportunities against South Africa. When India used to tour South Africa earlier, it seemed as if they are travelling to play in very difficult conditions, but now the irrespective of the scenario in South African cricket, India have the bowlers to take 20 wickets. Shami picked five wickets and bowled splendidly in the second innings. Bumrah took crucial wickets on Day 4 evening," Harbhajan said on Sports Tak.

"Overall, if you look at it, this South Africa team is no match to the current Indian unit. I feel this is a very strong Indian team and like I had said earlier, this is their best opportunity to win a Test series there. If they can't win it this time around, it will be very difficult. The start though has been very good and, in the time to come, India will win at least one of the next two games and take the series," explained Harbhajan.