Our Test series victory against India was incredible. The craziest stat was that the last time we had won a Test series there was in the late Hansie Cronje's days as captain, in 2000. The fact that we did it two and a half decades later speaks to the magnitude of our performance and overall achievement. It's another feather in our cap as a side, and we're growing very well as a Test team.
My first tour to India was back in 2015. India claimed the Test series 3-0 and I only played in the fourth and final Test, in Delhi. In 2019, it was really not a great one. We got hammered 3-0 in the series, with India winning by an innings twice.
I guess we came into the 2025 series knowing how tough it can be. You don't want to admit it as such but there are scars that still kind of live there. You just hope that you don't reopen those wounds or relive those moments. There was that from a mental point of view, but also, with past experience, you know how tough it's going to be.
From a technical point of view, you have a better understanding of what you need to do to be successful in those conditions. India is one of those places where you have to play there to experience it all and understand what you need to do in order to be successful. I'm very glad that the negative emotions and experiences of the past were not present this time round.
Comparing the Tests, I preferred the second match, in Guwahati, because that is proper Test cricket. Batting in the first Test, in Kolkata, wasn't easy. We had anticipated mentally that we might play on rank turners, so we were able to accept what was in front of us and weren't overwhelmed by the situation.
"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best" will always be my mantra. But it's important that when you get the best, like we did in the second Test, you take advantage. For me personally, my biggest gripe with myself was that when conditions were in my favour in the first innings of the second Test, I wasn't able to really cash in per se with the bat. Selfishly, as a batter you know that in conditions like that, if you get in, there is a real opportunity for you to get big runs.
In terms of coach Shukri getting the best out of us as players, that groundwork has been in play since we started. Shuks instils confidence in the players and makes them believe that they are the best. The premise is that if we play at our best, no one can stand near us.
He was probably a lot more intense than I've seen him, but it was understandable - we were playing India in India, which is a big task. We have always wanted to prepare ourselves for these types of encounters. Between the two of us, there were months on end speaking about India. What type of team and players did we want? And what did we need to do to be successful? It wasn't a case of getting to India and saying, "Okay, how are we going to do things?" The seed was planted long before the Test series.
Shukri and I had conversations about how we wanted to continue being No. 1. One of the ways is by beating the best teams in their own conditions, stepping up to the occasion. A series against India is always going to be intense, and when it's heated, it makes it even more of a spectacle and motivates the players further. As long as the respect is still intact between players, it's all good with whatever happens on the field.
Vernon Philander talks about South Africa's historic series win
I know from my side there was an incident where they said something in their language about me. At the end of the day two senior players, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah, came and apologised. When the apology was made, I was in the dark about what it was about, I hadn't heard it at the time and I needed to check in with our media manager about it.
What happens on the field, stays on the field but you don't forget what is said. You use it as fuel and motivation, but there are no grudges per se.
Shukri also took some heat for his "grovel" remark. I was put under pressure by the media on that side, asking me to clarify the comments that were made. I thought Shukri was the man best positioned to give context to it all. The first time I heard about it, it had that unsavoury taste to it, but I think it just reminded me how tough and competitive the Test series was and what it meant to certain individuals within the group. Shukri spoke after the ODI series and put that issue to bed. In hindsight, he said he could have chosen a better word and I agree with him.
Aiden Markram, aka "Sauce", who led the Test side in my absence in Pakistan, was also a good sounding board during the series. We had our chats before the India Test series about his learnings from Pakistan and where the team was at. We continue to work well together on the field and I value his input around tactics and the final make-up of the team. I try to tap into as many resources as I can, and Aiden, with his good feel for the game, is one of those.