NEW DELHI: Indian skipper
Rohit Sharma
's perennial problem of getting dismissed while playing the pull shot came to the fore again during the first day of the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Rohit was the first to go as he was caught pulling to fine leg for five runs off
Kagiso Rabada
. During the lunch break, former India batsman
Sanjay Manjrekar
remarked that Rohit's preferred shot in white-ball cricket has proven to be his nemesis in Test matches.
"It's interesting that his go to shot, the one shot that he plays in white-ball cricket that puts the opposition on the back foot, has been Rohit Sharma's nemesis in Test cricket. In the last two years, he's been out seven times playing the pull shot. But the bowler deserves this as it was a great delivery," said Manjrekar.
Having bowled in and around off-stump, Rabada dug one short but the height was just above waist which allowed Rohit to take the bait as he went for the pull.
Nandre Burger
standing at least 10 metres from the long-leg boundary rope had to just complete the formality.
Rohit on Monday said he wants to achieve what past Indian teams have not in the past 31 years -- a series victory in South Africa -- but even that won't be able to heal the scars of World Cup final defeat.
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The captain aims for his team to become the first to secure a series victory in the Rainbow Nation in India's ninth attempt since 1992.
"These are very important matches in terms of where we stand as a team. Also to look back that we have never won a series here as well, it's a big opportunity for us to do well here," Rohit said.
"We came pretty close the last two times when we toured here but again we have come to this place with lot of confidence to try and achieve what nobody (Indian) team has ever achieved in this part of the world," he said.
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