Sharma struggled to find many positives in the match, which concluded within three days. He acknowledged KL Rahul's impressive century in the first innings but expressed concerns about the team's overall performance.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team, openly acknowledged that their performance fell short, leading to the team’s defeat against South Africa in the first Test. Sharma attributed the embarrassing innings and 32-run loss to a lack of collective effort on both batting and bowling fronts. India failed to build partnerships and the bowling failed to hit their marks and execute the plans for the Proteas. Expressing disappointment during the post-match presentation, Sharma stated, “We were not good enough to win.
KL Rahul batted well to secure a decent score, but we failed to capitalize on the conditions with the ball. Today, our batting didn’t live up to expectations.” He emphasized the need for collective unity to win Test matches and admitted to a failure in adaptation during the challenging conditions at the boundary-scoring ground. Sharma struggled to find many positives in the match, which concluded within three days. He acknowledged KL Rahul’s impressive century in the first innings but expressed concerns about the team’s overall performance. Looking ahead, Sharma stressed the importance of regrouping for the next Test.
Read More: AUS vs PAK 2nd Test: Afridi and Hamza shine with three wickets each as Australia end Day 3 on 187-6
Dean Elgar, playing his last international series, delivered a remarkable innings of 185 runs. He described his performance as “special” and highlighted crucial partnerships with Tony de Zorzi and Marco Jansen. Elgar emphasized the importance of simplicity in the game, focusing on playing straight and late. He credited the Proteas’ pace trio—Nandre Burger, Kagiso Rabada, and Marco Jansen—for their disciplined attack that led to India’s downfall.
Elgar recognized Rabada’s brilliance and praised Nandre Burger as a shining light for South African cricket. Reflecting on the series, Elgar emphasized the difficulty of beating the Indian team and acknowledged the importance of winning the first Test in a two-match series. He concluded by mentioning the team’s clinical performance, acknowledging areas for improvement in fielding but expressing satisfaction with the overall outcome.
“We were not good enough to win. Having been put in to bat, KL (Rahul) batted well to get us that score but then we didn’t exploit the conditions with the ball and then again didn’t show up today with the bat,” said Rohit during the post-match presentation.
“If we have to win Test matches, we have to come together collectively and we didn’t do that. Guys have come here before, we know what to expect and everyone has their own plan.
“Our batters were challenged and we didn’t adapt well. This is a boundary-scoring ground, we saw them score many but we need to understand the opposition and their strengths as well. We didn’t bat well in both innnings, that’s why we stand here.”
Follow Us
