Team India suffering one of their worst defeats in history of Test cricket while playing overseas has not gone down well with the fans. South Africa made short work of the Test in Cenurion, winning it by an innings and 32 runs. Nobody expected the visitors to display such an ordinary piece of cricket even if winning was going to very difficult against such a good South African outfit.
Also Read | ‘Ghutne Tek Diye’: Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan’s Scathing Words Out After India’s Embarrassing Loss In 1st Test Vs South Africa
Except for KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, there were no good performances from anyone in Team India camp. Captain Rohit Sharma looked listless with the bat as Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jasiwal left too much to be desired. The pacers too were far fro their best. Shardul Thakur as the pace-bowling all-rounder was very, very poor, underperforming with both bat and ball.
While there were some angry reactions on the loss by some India fans, others took help from memes to light up their mood. Check some of the meme reactions that poured in after India lost the 1st Test.
Ek tha jo hospital se match palat deta tha pic.twitter.com/4UfBVLdaH2
— _// (@91chepauk) December 28, 2023
0 6 2 pic.twitter.com/kjO5AyHv9D
— mon (@4sacinom) December 28, 2023
Rahane & Pujara watching India’s collapse pic.twitter.com/lMjGnQMqc2
— Abhishek (@MSDianAbhiii) December 28, 2023
Rahane & Pujara watching India’s collapse pic.twitter.com/lMjGnQMqc2
— Abhishek (@MSDianAbhiii) December 28, 2023
Rahane and Pujara_ pic.twitter.com/INJSzQq2lA
— Pulkit__ (@pulkit5Dx) December 28, 2023
The second and last Test of the series starts on January 3. Captain Rohit vowed to make a strong comeback to level the series but he knows the job will not be very easy. That Test will be played at Cape Town and South Africa are tough to be at that venue.
In the last couple of years, India had never displayed such a poor show with both bat and ball. Some fans also missed Virat Kohli, the captain, in this Test. Under his leadership, he built a team which used to fight till the end. Even in defeats, this was a huge loss for the team, not just in terms of margin but the way the visitors played.
Questions are likely to be raised on the team’s preparedness for the series. The Test squad landed in South Africa with only a few days to go for the first Test. There was no camp held in India of the players bound for the Tests. There was no time for regrouping ahead of such an important tour. Just after a few nets sessions, the players were out on the field.
It won’t be wrong to say that India were either too confidence or underprepared for the Test series. They have never won a Test series in South Africa and with so much to achieve, the management should have asked the team to land way before the 1st Test and get accilimitise to the conditions.
