Centurion [South Africa], December 29 (ANI): Skipper Rohit Sharma stated that he can’t compare India’s World Cup final defeat to the loss that they suffered on Thursday against South Africa in the first Test.
India were bamboozled by South Africa’s pace and Dean Elgar’s elegant 185. The combined effort of the Proteas allowed them to clinch a remarkable victory by an innings and 32 runs.
This was Rohit and Virat Kohli’s first on-field appearance following the World Cup heartbreak last month when Australia emerged victorious and clinched their record-extending sixth title.
In the post-match press conference, Rohit when asked to compare both defeats said, “I can’t compare the World Cup to the Test series. Obviously winning the Test series here would be awesome and it is going to be an extraordinary feat for us. But the World Cup is World Cup, in my books, both are separate a loss is a loss. Losses are quite disappointing whether it is a World Cup loss or a loss like that but the weightage both tournaments have are quite different. So it is very hard for me to compare World Cup loss to this. You try to move on you have an opportunity in Cape Town where if we play to our potential we can turn things around.”
The first Test was completely dominated by South Africa. Rabada’s five-wicket haul put India on the back foot. KL Rahul played a counter-attacking knock of 101 but it was soon overshadowed by Elgar’s breathtaking 185.
On Day 3, Nandre Burger with his lethal bouncers and precise line and length pushed India’s batters back against the wall.
A game that seemed to be headed for the fourth day was concluded on the third day itself. India batters were no match for South Africa pacers as the pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Burger ran through India’s entire batting line-up.
Virat Kohli was the sole batter who knew how to churn out runs on a surface which proved to be too much for the rest of the batters.
After a dismal start to their second innings, South Africa struck India hard by removing Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in quick succession.
After Burger removed Ravichandran Ashwin for a golden duck, India’s fate was more or less sealed.
Jasprit Bumrah’s runout following a brilliant effort in the field by Dean Elgar caused a mood of dismay. A brilliant review from the South Africa team saw Mohammed Siraj gloving the ball straight to the wicketkeeper.
Prasidh Krishna struggled hard but Jansen got the better of Kohli (76) which brought an end to India’s struggle within the three days. (ANI)
