South Africa vs India: Imran Tahir wins hearts with his sportsmanship

The Men in Blue defeated the Proteas in the first One-Day International in Durban on Thursday. After a disappointing loss in the Test series, Virat Kohli & Co. took the field to regain their lost pride. Team India had the momentum going into the first ODI after they defeated the Proteas in the third Test at the Wanderers. In the first ODI, Imran Tahir’s gesture won the hearts of the fans.

The South African leg-spinner is famous for being the one who plays with a lot of passion and is completely engrossed in the game. In the first ODI, Proteas captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bat first. The Indian bowlers responded brilliantly and reduced them to a mere 269. Faf’s 120 went in vain as Virat Kohli powered India to chase down 270 in the 46th over of their innings with 6 wickets in hand.

India were off to a positive start in the chase as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan played their shots. The Proteas did make a comeback with a couple of wickets but once captain Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane took charge and stitched together a 189-run partnership it looked like a child’s play.

Tahir congratulates Kohli

Kohli played a match-winning knock worth 112 to guarantee India a lead in the six-match ODI series. Rahane, India’s latest recruit at number four scored a gutsy 79 to make the number position his own at least for the rest of the series. The duo did all the hard work but couldn’t take the team home and it was up to MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya to do the formalities.

Virat slammed his 33rd ODI hundred, the second most in this format of the game and his first in South Africa. He couldn’t stay on till the end and hit one in the air only to be caught by Kagiso Rabada in the deep, while Kohli was taking the long walk back Tahir reached out to him and congratulated him for the master class knock.

Watch the video here:

Imran Tahir congratulating Virat Kohli after his matching winning knock last night..#Sportsmanship #SAvIND ? pic.twitter.com/BpFjp6FKPT

— ᴅɪᴠʏᴀ ᴋ ʀᴇᴅᴅʏ (@Kohlicious_) February 2, 2018