A tale of two captains after South Africa shock favorites India with series win

During recent days, when Australia’s mauling of England in the Ashes entered its final throes, another series concluded in exciting and unexpected fashion. South Africa, with a new captain, beat India, with an established one, 2-1 in a three-match series at home.

In historical and statistical terms, this should not be a surprise. India have never won a Test series in South Africa. Out of seven series contested since 1992-93, India had lost six and drawn one. These series yielded twenty Test matches, out of which India had won only three, with three draws and ten losses.

However, going into the series, India were in superior form, having beaten Australia away in 2020-21 and leading England 2-1 away in the summer of 2021, before failing to engage with the final and deciding match on Sept. 10 on the grounds of mental health issues. There was a sense at that time of all not being harmonious between the Indian camp and its authority, the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

South Africa, on the other hand, have been through tough times, losing five of their previous eight Test series. They have had to cope with the retirement of fourteen match-winning world-class players in the last ten years, plus off-field distractions involving the suspension and dismissal of administrators for alleged misconduct and malpractice. More recently, a call by one player for Cricket South Africa to stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement received mixed responses.

The loss of a key bowler to injury before the first Test on Dec. 26 was a further setback, and South Africa were beaten. However, in a remarkable turnaround, they won the second and third hard-fought matches to win the series.

Captain Dean Elgar said that he had