Centurion, South Africa

India skipper Rohit Sharma has taken the blame for the embarrassing defeat against South Africa in the first Test match after they lost by an innings and 32 runs. India were bowled out for 131 in their second innings and lost the contest on Day 3 as their wait for a series win on the Proteas soil continues. Dean Elgar was the star of the match with his 185-run knock, while Kagiso Rabada scalped seven wickets, including a five-for in the first innings. The win now sees South Africa lead the two-match series 1-0, making it impossible for India to win the series.

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Rohit takes blame for defeat

“We were not good enough to win. Having been put into bat, KL 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. 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,” Rohit said in the post-match.

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The loss also had heavy ramifications on the World Test Championship (WTC) standings as India slipped to fifth spot while South Africa are top with a win in their first match of the cycle.

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India face embarrassing defeat

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After securing a 163-run lead in their first innings, India were called into bat on Day 3 of the Centurion Test needing a good start. However, those plans were dented as the visitors lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma (0) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) early. This was Rohit’s fifth Test duck as he suffers from a poor run of form. Rohit was soon joined by Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) as India’s poor Test return continued. The visitors were 13/2 before Shubman Gill (26) and Virat Kohli (76) tried to stitch a partnership.

Later, Gill and Shreyas Iyer were scalped by Marco Jansen as India were 72/4 with KL Rahul and Kohli batting. With wickets falling at regular intervals, Kohli changed gears and tried to get his hundred however his wicket in the 35th over brought curtains to the innings as India lost by an innings and 32 runs. Apart from Virat, only Gill got into double figures for India as they now switch attention to the second Test in Cape Town.