IND vs SA: “Innings Defeat Is Quite Humbling” - Aakash Chopra Blasts India For Centurion Debacle

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra analyzed Team India’s loss in the first Test of the series against South Africa in Centurion. He feels that innings defeat was humbling for the visitors and no one really looked convincing.

India looked out of sorts in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion. The Rohit Sharma-led side had a torrid outing with both bat and ball and they didn’t even win one session, which speaks about the kind of performance they put in the game.

Batting-wise, it was a torrid outing for them in both the innings. In the first essay, they struggled right from the start. But thanks to KL Rahul, who slammed a magnificent ton to take the team to a total of 245 runs. The bowlers didn’t get going at all as they looked timid against the batters.

Indian bowlers conceded 408 runs as South Africa took a lead of 163 runs. It was then expected that batters would come up with better performance but that was the case. It turned out to be a forgettable outing as they were bundled out for just 131 runs to face an innings and 32-run thrashing.

Only Virat Kohli (76) looked settled at the crease and rest no other batter looked good. They couldn’t even go past the 30-run run mark as South African bowlers were all over them.

Aakash Chopra said that he was optimistic about India making a comeback into the game ahead of Day 3. He lauded KL Rahul and Virat Kohli for their innings and pointed out that at rest all other batters struggled. Speaking on Jio Cinema, he explained:

“When the third day’s play began, I felt there was a realistic chance of an Indian fightback. But that did not happen. An innings defeat is quite humbling. Except for (KL) Rahul in the first innings and (Virat) Kohli in the second, the others did not look convincing.”

IND vs SA: No one looked like willing to play ugly, take body blows and stick around – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra further lashed out at the Indian team and said that no one looked to take body blows. He pointed out that fighting spirit wasn’t visible in the visiting side.

Aakash Chopra was critical of Rohit Sharma for his dismissal against Kagiso Rabada. He also pointed out the inexperience of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer. He elaborated:

“No one looked like willing to play ugly, take body blows and stick around. Rohit Sharma was out to (Kagiso) Rabada in both innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal is still far from figuring out these conditions. Shreyas Iyer didn’t look good. India needed to bat four-five sessions which did not happen.”

India will now be looking to make a comeback in the second Test against South Africa. The match will take place in Cape Town on 3rd January. The dream to win the series in Proteas still remains a dream for the Indian team. However, they would be hoping to win the game and bag some important WTC points as they slipped to no.6 in the points table.