NEW DELHI: A below-par bowling performance was followed shock batting collapse in the second innings as India succumbed to an embarrassing defeat in the Test series opener against South Africa in Centurion.
India batted just over 100 overs in both innings combined as a fiery Proteas wrapped up the Boxing Day Test inside three days to hand India one of their worst defeats in the Rainbow Nation.
Team India
batters looked clueless in both their outings and failed to adjust to the bowling-friendly conditions.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra hit out at the Indian batting performance, pointing out they never looked convincing throughout the contest and and weren't willing to play ugly.
“When the third day's play began, I felt there was a realistic chance of an Indian fightback. But that did not happen. An innings defeat is quite humbling. Except for (KL) Rahul in the first innings and (Virat) Kohli in the second, the others did not look convincing,” Chopra said during his analysis on JioCinema.
“No one looked like willing to play ugly, take body blows and stick around.
Rohit Sharma
was out to (Kagiso) Rabada in both innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal is still far from figuring out these conditions. Shreyas Iyer didn't look good. India needed to bat four-five sessions which did not happen,” he said.
With opener Shubman Gill scoring 2 and 26 in the two innings, Chopra was also critital of the India opener, saying that the youngster has got to score runs in order to cement his place in the longer format.
“Gill was impressive in the series against Australia when India toured, and looked like a player for the future. He's batted well in ODIs which is his favourite format and done modestly in T20s. But in Tests, against England, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies, I don't think he has performed well. So, there is a question mark. He started off as an opener. Then he batted at No 3. Eventually he wants to bat at No. 4 is what I feel. But he needs to start scoring runs. There's a slight technical deficiency in his batting, too. He's a player who likes to play mostly with his hands and does not rely mainly on his feet. So, this approach may suit flat pitches and white ball cricket. But that does not work in Test cricket,” the former India opener explained.
South Africa now have an unassailable 1-0 lead in the 2-Test series. The second and final game will be played in Cape Twon from January 3.
English (US) ·