Rishabh Pant reveals the actual reason behind India's defeat in Kolkata Test

Team India stand-in captain Rishabh Pant admitted that the team missed a golden chance to win the first Test match against South Africa in Kolkata. Pant said that the chase should have been completed in the run chase and added that the partnership between Temba Bavuma and Corbin Bosch was the turning point.

South Africa won the opening Test by 30 runs at Eden Gardens on Sunday, November 16. The Temba Bavuma-led team took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. India were chasing 124 on the third day but collapsed for just 93 runs. With skipper Shubman Gill unavailable due to injury, Rishabh Pant captained the side.

We Should Have Chased This Score, But... - Rishabh Pant

Speaking after the defeat, Rishabh Pant acknowledged that the team had lost the match from a winning position. He said the chase should have been completed but admitted that India were unable to handle the pressure in the second innings.

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“We feel a game like this, you can’t dwell on it too much. We should have chased this score, but pressure kept building on us in the 2nd innings, and we didn’t capitalise enough,” Pant said at the post-match presentation.

Washington Sundar (29), Rishabh Pant (27), and Ravindra Jadeja (27) got off to starts but couldn’t convert them into match-winning knocks. Harmer secured the Player of the Match award after taking eight wickets across the two innings.

Rishabh Pant Reveals the Turning Point of the Kolkata Test

Pant also revealed the turning point of the match. Pant admitted that the Bavuma–Bosch stand proved costly and swung the match away from India.

“Temba and Bosch had a brilliant partnership in the morning, and it hurt us later in the game, and that changed the game,” Pant admitted.

Bavuma and Bosch added a 47-run stand for the eighth wicket as South Africa bowled out for 153 runs. The visitors had enough runs to defend on a deteriorating surface. Before that partnership, India had appeared in control after bowling South Africa out for 159 and gaining a 30-run lead.

Rishabh Pant Makes It Clear That Conditions Were Not an Excuse

Pant made it clear that conditions were not an excuse. He accepted that the pitch offered uneven bounce, but India’s batters needed to handle the small chase with far more calmness.

Pant said the team would not dwell on the collapse and would instead shift their focus to bouncing back. He added that India are determined to return stronger in the next match.

“There was help on the wicket, but a score like 120 can be tricky on this surface, but as a team we should be able to soak in the pressure and capitalise,” Pant said.

“We haven’t thought about. We are going to come back stronger,” he promised.

Simon Harmer was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with four wickets in the second innings. Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj, and Marco Jansen each added two scalps.

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