Rohit Sharma got out for a duck in his final international innings of the year when he fell to Kagiso Rabada for the second time in the first Test of a two-match series in Centurion on Thursday. Rohit was dismissed by Rabada in the first innings too.
India were dismissed for 245 in the first innings as KL Rahul top-scored with 101. Rabada was the wrecker-in-chief with his 14th five-wicket haul. After Dean Elgar’s 185 and Marco Jansen’s 84 not out helped South Africa (408) take a massive lead, Rabada inflicted further damage and completed 50 Test wickets against India.
This has been a torrid Test match for Rohit Sharma who has been criticised for his captaincy and on-field tactics. Rohit’s ploy of using an inexperienced Prasidh Krishna with Shardul Thakur raised eyebrows and to make matters more complicated, India’s body lanuage did not inspire any confidence.
Rohit Sharma was outstanding in the 2023 Cricket World Cup – he was lauded for his selfless approach with the bat and his astute leadership. However, days after losing the final to Australia, Rohit lost his Mumbai Indians captaincy to Hardik Pandya.
In India’s last international match of 2023, Rohit Sharma managed scores of 5 and 0 and the team now has a huge task to try and claw its way back in the game.
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