"One of our best Test match victories" - Rohit Sharma on where the Cape Town victory ranks among India's red-ball wins

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma ranked the side's win in Cape Town among their all-time best, considering their poor record at the venue and being 0-1 down in the series.

India had never won a Test at the venue and became the first Asian side to dethrone the Proteas at Newlands. Playing a must-win game to level the series, they rode the bowlers' outstanding showing to emerge victorious by seven wickets.

Speaking at the press conference after the win, an elated Rohit Sharma put the result into perspective.

"It'll be one of our best Test match victories. Having not won here in Cape Town [before], obviously this puts it right up there with all the victories that we've had. It's very hard to compare the Test matches that you play because every Test match has its own importance and own relevance," Rohit said.

The 36-year-old also compared the win to India's famous victory at the Gabba in Brisbane in January 2021.

"The Test match that we won at The Gabba as well. The last test match that was lost by Australia in Brisbane was in 1988, I think. Nearly after 23, 24 years [32 years] we won the Test match there. It kind of became like their fortress. They never lose a test match there," Rohit continued.

"So you can't really rank the Test matches, but this has to be right up there because we had not won here. That shows how important a venue this is for us to come here and perform. I give a lot of credit to our team to put up a performance like that and win the game," he added.

The result meant India drew for only the second time in nine Test tours to South Africa, with the other instance being the 2010-11 series.

It was also the shortest Test ever played, with only 642 balls bowled across the four innings.

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"Yashasvi Jaiswal actually played quite freely" - Rohit Sharma

Jaiswal's quickfire cameo settled the Indian nerves in their final innings run-chase.

Rohit Sharma praised fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his attacking batting in India's fourth-innings run-chase. Despite hunting down a modest total of 79, the surface being in complete favor of the pacers gave the Proteas a glimmer of hope.

However, Jaiswal scored a brisk 28 off 23 deliveries to erase any questions about the result.

"Any score to get on that pitch was going to be challenging. Yashasvi Jaiswal actually played quite freely. It is something that we discussed when we went to bat that we want to take the bowlers on. If the ball is in an area, we need to put it where it's supposed to go," said Rohit.

Rohit added that the challenging conditions in South Africa meant it was paramount to show trust in the first-timers even if they struggled with the bat.

"Especially in this country, we know batting is very difficult. Especially when you play on pitches like that, obviously it's tough. You've gotta show a lot of faith. You've gotta show a lot of trust. And especially in the guys who have come here for the first time, uh, you know, Shubman Gill, Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer," added Rohit.

Despite the drawn series, it was a struggle for all three first-timers - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer.

All three averaged less than 20 without any half-centuries in 12 innings combined in the two-match Test series.