New Delhi: India’s dreams of winning a test series in South Africa came to an end on Thursday, as the men in blue suffered a devastating loss in the first test match of the two-match test series against the Proteas.
The South African side outshined the Indian side on all fronts, as during the entirety of the match, Indians were never in the driving seat as the Proteas were on the charge since the very first ball.
Indian batting collapse
Indian cricket team was invited to bat first by the South African skipper Temba Bavuma, and proving their captain’s decision right, the South African bowlers wreaked havoc on the batting line-up of India, as except KL Rahul (101), no other batsmen, even tried to put up a fight as the whole team were packed up on just 245.
Just like the first innings, except for one batsman, Virat Kohli (76), no other batsman looked comfortable on the field as once again the whole team was packed up on just 131, giving the Proteas huge innings and 32 runs.
Test cricket brings best out of you. #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/2FVjygQlLF
— Virat Kohli 🍥 (@imVKohji) December 29, 2023
For South Africa, the debutante Nandre Burger and Kagiso Rabada both took 7 wickets each in the match, breaking the backbone of the Indian batting lineup.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, in the post-match ceremony, called the poor batting as the reason behind India’s loss. He pointed out lack of collective teamwork as in both innings, only one batsman stepped up to charge, while others just kept getting out playing unnecessary shots.
However, Rohit also mentioned that too much loathing on this match won’t do any good to the team, as they need to regroup and come back stronger in the next match.
Netizens react
The netizens on X (Formerly known as Twitter), were not too impressed by the Indian team’s efforts during the match as they called out the entire team for their poor outing at the Centurion, effectively sparking a meme fest.
Check out their reactions below:
ROHIT SELFLESS STAGES🙌@SushantNMehta #RohitSharma #ViratKohli #INDvsSA #SAvsIND #Captain pic.twitter.com/MEmCZxfTpE
— Sports Yaari (@YaariSports) December 29, 2023
World Best Pace Bowler #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/J94m9ARnc5
— Rashid Latif | 🇵🇰 (@iRashidLatif68) December 28, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane practicing hard for a comeback 👏🤟✅#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/Vb1glukjAE
— Smarika Chaudhary (@smarikacha5031) December 29, 2023
KL Rahul is a visionary, he was practicing for today since world cup final ❤️#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/ocSDvl9KJb
— Ctrl C Ctrl Memes (@Ctrlmemes_) December 26, 2023
Team India During Virat-Shastri Era was something Different and RoVid is not even 1% of that #INDvSA #virat #ViratKohli #INDvsSApic.twitter.com/3AjRNorZX8
— Gaurav (@gauravvffan) December 28, 2023
Team India During Virat-Shastri Era was something Different and RoVid is not even 1% of that #INDvSA #virat #ViratKohli #INDvsSApic.twitter.com/3AjRNorZX8
— Gaurav (@gauravvffan) December 28, 2023
India docked two important points in the WTC point table apart from losing the test match and fined a 10 % match fee.
Things can’t go worse than this for team India.#AUSvPAK #Babar #BCCI #INDvsSA #Ashwin #ViratKohli #Rahul #Imam #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/YdL5wkiU2b
— Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) December 29, 2023
Indian Test Cricket Downfall started here : #ViratKohli𓃵 #IndvsSA @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/0dUuPBribo
— RSY & VKᵀᵒˣᶦᶜ (@PKMKBforever690) December 27, 2023
