Johannesburg 2013: The draw is a thing ... Kohli arrives after the Fab Four have left the building

Press Box 2020

After being battered repeatedly, by Quinton de Kock, rain and South Africa, not necessarily in that order, India went into the Johannesburg Test of 2013 mildly undercooked.

It was, after all, India’s first big test minus Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. It goes without saying that the fourth corner of the Fab Quartet, Sourav Ganguly, had already receded into the background, but, this was still Life After Fab Four, in a real sense.

There was uncertainty, a bit of shakiness and for viewers that feeling of watching from between fingers, hidden by the sofa as a horror movie unfolds. And yet, here came Virat Kohli, questioned for his ability to play the short ball, dropped once from the team after similar struggles, taking on Dale Steyn when he was breathing fire. Kohli was all control, all batting mastery, before expressing himself, a phrase he likes so much.

While the age of certain batsmen may have ended, this was also the comeback of Zaheer Khan, returning from injury, and just having to turn up to get Graeme Smith out. What a story for a fast bowler just about setting his legacy in stone.

The Zaheer disciple, Ishant Sharma, also seemed to get on the road to finding his feet in Test cricket. There was also Mohammad Shami, in his first overseas series, quietly but firmly taking the responsibility from Zaheer.

But, enough of that already. By the end of this amazing drawn Test, both teams were questioned for not going for the win and neither team would’ve been excused if they lost. All hail the great draw!

In Episode 4 you will hear how Bharat Sundaresan was living it large in Johannesburg while Anand Vasu was just about coming out of his shell. Oh, and there’s also a bit about beers in the press box and giant potato twirly-swirly things.

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