Virat Kohli said he spent the last few months visualizing himself scoring a Test century in South Africa. In his very first Test in the country, he not only realized the dream but also came mighty close to scoring the second one and bagged the Man of the Match award. Virat’s innings of 119 and 96 were part of an outstanding Indian performance that saw them dominate the Test until Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers fought back. "The kind of team that we have now, with a lot of young players in this team, we can be proud of how we played this Test match,” Virat said. “The guys have showed character throughout the Test, with the bat and the ball. We played brilliantly in the second innings and dominated four days of the Test match.” Virat, however, was surprised the Proteas didn’t press for a win when they needed 16 runs from the last three overs, South Africa finished with 450 for 7, chasing 458. "Everyone was pretty shocked honestly,” Virat said. “We didn't think that they would stop going for the score needing eight runs an over and with Philander striking the ball pretty well. He can bat, we have seen that in the past. "I don't know what happened. We had our plans and that was going for the wickets but to see them not going for that score was pretty surprising for all of us. "In the end, it was a very enjoyable Test match. It was a fair finish for this Test match. The way this match has been played over the last four days, pretty competitive with both teams coming back pretty strongly in one session or the other, it was a fair finish," Virat said. When the final day of the Test began, India were the overwhelming favourites needing eight wickets to win. But du Plessis and de Villiers batted doggedly for their 205-run partnership, denying India a famous win. "It was a weird situation in today's play from the beginning,” Virat said. “There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the day. Early on we got two quick wickets in the first session and we thought that another couple of wickets in the second session would have been perfect for us but AB and Faf batted brilliantly, especially Faf not having scored runs in the first innings. To bat under pressure like that shows so much character. Of course AB has always been a world-class player and there is no doubt about it.” India got a glimmer of a chance when they dismissed de Villiers and JP Duminy in quick succession. “AB's dismissal just opened up things for us and then when we got JP (Duminy) out, we thought we will win the game,” Virat said. “Then Vernon (Philander) came and struck a few boundaries and then we thought that we are on the back-foot again. When we ran out Faf we thought we will win again and it was just too much going on in the end,” Virat described the roller-coaster ride in the final session of the Test. Despite missing out on a win, Virat was pleased with the fight that Team India put up right through the five days. "We showed great character to come back taking three wickets in the end. This team never backs off. Obviously you are playing against the number one team in the world and you can expect that from them. “It is not easy to defeat them in a Test match and they keep coming back. But to come back that way and get those wickets in that last session is commendable. "It was a pretty tough situation to be in and I feel sorry for the captain. MS Dhoni was pretty good in handling things out there; it is his biggest quality, his calmness in those situations. He never let the guys believe that the things are going into a desperate mode. He kept the guys pretty calm and we knew one or two mistakes are going to open up things; we came back beautifully," he said. With their performance at the Wanderers, India have certainly shut those voices that wrote them off even before the series began. “Every single person in this team is hungry to go out there and win a game for their country. That is the biggest factor that has changed the way we played in the last one year. We are a group of inexperienced cricketers, but smart cricketers, and we are very desperate to perform," Virat said.