India vs South Africa: Top 5 Test centuries by Indians in South Africa

From Kapil Dev’s gutsy 129 in 1992 to Cheteshwar Pujara’s 153 in 2013, Indians have played a number of memorable Test knocks in South Africa till date. Unfortunately, none of them could result in an India win. CricTracker picks five of those top knocks.

India’s seventh Test series in South Africa will begin on Friday, January 5, when Virat Kohli’s men will lock horns with the hosts led by Faf du Plessis at Newlands in Cape Town. India are yet to win a Test series in South Africa since they first toured that country in 1992 and have won just two out of 17 matches they have played. They have lost eight on the other hand while seven games have been drawn.

However, although India have done poorly as a team in South Africa in the last 25 years, there had been some great individual centuries from the visitors and though they could not always turn their team’s fate around, they have remained memorable for their sheer quality. Here are five top tons by Indians in South Africa since the 1992 series which the visitors had lost 0-1.

1. Kapil Dev’s 129 – 3rd Test in Port Elizabeth, 1992

It was the game in which the fierce Allan Donald had taken 12 wickets to make a mockery of the Indian batting and they lost the game by 9 wickets. But it was veteran Kapil Dev’s counter-attacking 129 that made this Test an eternal memory. India came out to bat in their second essay with a 63 runs deficit and at one stage, were reeling at 31 for six, making an incredible innings defeat look probable.

But it was Dev, who retired in less than two years since that game, who took the fight to the opponents, an injured right hand notwithstanding. Dev’s 129 came in 180 balls and was studded with 14 fours and one six.

The Indian tail wagged with him, taking the total to 215 which was though never enough and the visitors lost the game by 9 wickets. But if one talks of VVS Laxman’s 167 scored in Sydney in 1999-2000 as one of the best knocks by an Indian ending up on the losing side, Dev’s 129 will be no less significant.