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Skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that the Indian team didn't "bowl well" against South Africa in the first Test as the surface "wasn't a 400-run wicket".
On Thursday, India suffered a crushing defeat to South Africa as they lost by an innings and 32 runs. Dean Elgar in his farewell series showcased temperament with vigour as he scored a remarkable 185 following a top-quality performance from their bowlers in the first innings. In the post-match press conference, Rohit talked about India's sub-par performance with the ball and said, "We didn't bowl well. This wasn't a 400-run wicket. We gave away a lot of runs this happens. We can't depend too much on one bowle,r the rest of the bowlers have to do their job. We can learn from the way the opposition bowled." He went on to hail KL Rahul for his remarkable outing with the bat. In the first innings, when India kept on losing wickets, Rahul displayed grit and scored a ton to propel India's score to 245. "What KL Rahul did in the first wicket is a perfect example of showing intent and at the same time respecting the conditions as well. He scored at a strike rate of 70 and he put the bad balls away. When we talk about intent we don't want to go and just swing out bats that is not going to happen and that is not the condition to do that. You got to understand there is a very thin line in showing that kind of intent and showing that discipline as well," Rohit added. 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 first three days. (ANI)
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