Tabraiz Shamsi has opened up on the real reason behind South Africa’s remarkable turnaround in India, a country where success has traditionally been painfully rare for the Proteas. Under Temba Bavuma’s leadership, South Africa stunned the cricketing world by whitewashing India 2-0 on their own soil—only the second time they have ever achieved this feat. Before this historic tour, South Africa had failed to win even a single Test across their previous two visits.

But this time, the World Test Champions completely flipped the script, starting with a hard-fought 30-run win in Kolkata and finishing with a crushing 408-run victory in Guwahati.

Reflecting on the secret behind this success, Tabraiz Shamsi credited the team’s extraordinary preparation. The left-arm wrist-spinner admitted that touring India has always been one of the most daunting challenges for any South African side. But this group took a different route—one built on intense planning, smart scheduling, and mental readiness.

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“As a South African, we’ve had some difficult times touring India—four Test tours in the past—and in our last two series, we were comprehensively beaten. So the guys put in a lot of work. They had good preparation going into this one. They toured Pakistan just before going to India, so they were already getting used to subcontinent conditions,” Tabraiz Shamsi said in an interview with India Today.

Shamsi emphasised that this wasn’t just about individual brilliance; it was a collective mission. He praised how different players contributed at crucial moments, ensuring the team never depended solely on their big names.

“What was really encouraging is that a couple of players stood out for us, but everyone else played strong supporting roles. They performed at crucial moments. Different guys scored runs, different guys took wickets. Temba Bavuma’s leadership has been outstanding as well. Everything just seemed to come together, and the players had that belief that they could beat India,” he said.

The biggest shift, according to Shamsi, was the mindset. Instead of arriving in India with the usual hesitation teams often feel, the Proteas carried the confidence of World Test Champions—a belief that they could beat India in their own conditions.

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“This time, the feeling within the team was completely different. The aura wasn’t one of simply going there to honour the fixtures or thinking, ‘We’ll fight, but India will probably win.’ There was a real sense of purpose. Even when they were behind, the guys pushed hard. That attitude was great to see,” Tabraiz Shamsi explained.

He also highlighted South Africa’s depth, stressing that the team didn’t crumble even without Kagiso Rabada, one of the world’s finest pacers.

“There was calm confidence and no reliance on just one or two players. Rabada wasn’t even there, yet the team still found a way. That shows the depth within the squad,” he added.

Following this statement series win, South Africa now sit second on the World Test Championship points table with a 75% points percentage. With upcoming assignments against Australia, Bangladesh, England, and Sri Lanka, the Proteas are determined to return to the WTC final and defend their crown.