Centurion, South Africa

South Africa legendary batter Herschelle Gibbs has taken a massive dig at skipper Temba Bavuma after he went out injured on the first day of the Centurion Test match on Tuesday (Dec 26). Bavuma was injured in the 20th over of the Indian first innings and was taken to the scans. It was later revealed that he had a right hamstring strain and was likely to miss the rest of the match. Gibbs, in his remark on Bavuma, termed him unfit and overweight.

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Gibbs takes dig at Bavuma

“Ironic that the coach allows some players who are clearly unfit and overweight to play when he started off as proteas trainer in 2009,” Gibbs posted on X in a reply to a post. 

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Before the fifth ball of the 20th over, Bavuma was attended by physios and was later seen limping off the field. It is initially thought that Bavuma has pulled his hamstring which could result in him missing the rest of the match. Hamstring issues generally have lengthy time out for players as it takes time to recover. If this is the case, Bavuma could be ruled out of the entire series while his participation in the remainder of the first Test remains in doubt.

ALSO READ | SA vs IND, 1st Test: Rain plays spoilsport on Day 1 after Kagiso Rabada dismantles Indian top order with 5-for

What happened on Boxing Day?

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India's batting suffered a bitter blow on Day 1 of the Centurion Test as Kagiso Rabada stole the spotlight with his five-for against Rohit Sharma’s men. The South African speedster was the highlight reel of the day as India were 208/8 before rain played spoilsport. As a result, Stumps were called early on Boxing Day with KL Rahul batting on 70 along with Mohammed Siraj (0).

For the hosts, Rabada has figures of 44/5 in his 17 overs while Nandre Burger (50/2) and Marco Jansen (52/1) were also amongst the wicket-takers. The hosts though could have a tough second day with the bat as having lost skipper Temba Bavuma through injury during the first session. He was seen limping off with a hamstring issue during the 20th over of India’s first innings.