 | « Back to article | Print this article |
'They perhaps hoped to get an early wicket, but once they didn't get that, they went into a shell.'
India, troubled by pace and grappling with unexpected bounce, suffered a resounding innings and 32-run defeat against a superior South Africa in the first Test at Centurion.
The match concluded in just three days, exposing India's ill-preparedness against their formidable opponents.
Sachin Tendulkar commended South Africa for their impressive showing and acknowledged the unexpected prowess of their pace attack, which surpassed expectations in the second innings despite the pitch favouring batters as the match progressed.
'From whatever I watched, India's shot selection left much to be desired. Throughout the Test, only a few batters, namely (Dean) Elgar, (Marco) Jansen, (David) Bedingham, Virat Kohli and K L Rahul truly seemed at ease with the bat, navigating the conditions with technique and poise,' Tendulkar remarked.
Sunil Gavaskar specifically noted the Indian team's uninspiring body language and overall lethargy, emphasising the urgent need for them to step up.
Gavaskar, providing commentary during the match, observed, 'India has to wake up. They have been listless. Some of the efforts we've seen, some of the body language is very, very listless. Yes, Bumrah bowled a good spell, but that was not backed up.'
'They perhaps hoped to get an early wicket, but once they didn't get that, they went into a shell. There was not much clapping. There was nothing to encourage the bowlers. The boundaries were flowing, and that is where you could see the body language was really down,' Gavaskar remarked during the innings break show on Star Sports.
'There was no energy. This was supposed to be a crucial morning session. They really should have shown more energy.'