Fun facts on the Proteas players who drove their historic 2-0 series triumph over India

The Proteas recently celebrated a dominant 408-run win against India in the second Test held at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

The victory not only secured a 2-0 series win but also marked India’s biggest defeat ever in Test cricket history in terms of runs.

Meanwhile, it was the first time South Africa had won a Test series in India in 25 years, making it even more special for the players and fans.

Chasing a formidable target of 549, India struggled to make much of an impact, only managing to score 140 runs. 

Our star players during this series were Senuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen and Aiden Markram.

Muthusamy scored a robust 109 runs in the first innings, while Harmer closely followed with an almost-century performance, making 93 runs. 

Jansen took six wickets for just 48 runs, while Harmer’s skill led him to finish the match with an impressive 6-37 and a total of nine wickets across the game, earning him the player-of-the-series award.

Markram showcased his skills in the field too, breaking records by taking nine catches in one match. His agile reflexes outshone all previous records and set a new standard for future cricketers, surpassing the previous record of eight catches.

Captain Temba Bavuma expressed immense pride following their victory.

"It's massive ... Not every day you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win. There’s a big shift in our mindsets… that's the belief. As a team, we are really in a good space." 

Here are some fun facts about these star players. 

Senuran Muthusamy, 31

• He has Indian ancestry, with roots tracing back to Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, in South India, but Muthusamy identifies as "firmly South African". 
• His father, a cricket fanatic, passed away when he was 11. His grandmother gave him throwdowns in the back garden when he was young.
• He has a bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with a specialisation in media and marketing, but cricket has always been his primary calling.

Simon Ross Harmer, 36

• After making his Test debut for South Africa in 2015, he was dropped and did not play another Test match for South Africa for nearly seven years, until 2022. 
• After his initial struggles, Harmer took a trip to Mumbai, India, to work with a local coach to completely reinvent and refine his spin-bowling technique. He credits that trip with giving him the "ammunition" to become the world-class bowler he is today.
• He is the fourth South African cricketer to achieve the monumental milestone of 1000 first-class wickets.
• Harmer's nicknames on and off the field are "Buckets" (likely for his fielding/catching) and "Tentacles" (due to his large hands).

Aiden Markram, 31

• Markram is married to his long-time girlfriend, Nicole Daniella O'Connor. She is often seen travelling with him and cheering him on from the stands at major tournaments, including the IPL and international matches.
• They do not have children yet but are proud "parents" to two dogs, Rex and Pheebs.
• Markram was initially interested in and actively involved in football during his youth, wanting to become a football player before cricket took over.
• Markram was the first South African player to score two Test centuries in his first three Test matches (2017).
• At the age of 23, he became the second youngest player to captain South Africa in a One Day International (ODI), after Graeme Smith.

Marco Jansen, 25

• Jansen is exceptionally tall, standing at a reported 2.6m. This height is a major factor in his bowling, allowing him to extract steep bounce from the pitch, even on docile surfaces.
• He has an identical twin brother named Duan Jansen, who is also a professional cricketer. In 2023, Marco (playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Duan (playing for Mumbai Indians) became the first set of twin brothers to play against each other in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• Years before his international debut, when he was just 17, he and his twin brother were invited to bowl in the nets to the touring Indian team in South Africa. Jansen specifically impressed Virat Kohli, which led to an invitation to bowl in a further session.
• His first-ever Test wicket was the dismissal of  Kohli, the player he had impressed during those net sessions years earlier.