IND vs SA: Former Pakistan Skipper Salman Butt Takes A Dig At Indian Batsmen For Cape Town Test Defeat

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has dissected India’s defeat in the third and final Test in Cape Town. India lost the series 2-1 in the process and their dream to win a Test series in South Africa is still incomplete. Butt especially took a dig at the Indian batters and held them responsible for the defeat. Ths hosts, on the other hand, played some really tough cricket and ensured that they keep their domination over the Indian team intach.

Salman Butt said that three of India’s five batsmen went into the form with question marks on their form. He referred to Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara and their iffy form throughout the series. While Kohli ended the series with just 161 runs, Rahane and Pujara scored 136 and 124 respectively.

There Were Question Marks Over Form Of Three Of The Five Batters: Salman Butt

“India need to rethink their approach. Both form and experience matter. But what we saw in South Africa was that Rahane and Pujara were preferred over in-form players. On seamer-friendly pitches, you are relying on experienced players who are out of form. In addition, you are going in with only five specialist batters. Of the five, there were question marks on the form of at least three players. This was going to make life very difficult, which is exactly what we saw” said Butt on his Youtube channel.

Butt further said that the South Africans took advantage of Rohit Sharma’s absence and exposed the weak links in the Indian team rather badly. KL Rahul started the series with a century in the first Test but then fell off the radar. Mayank Agarwal too started with a brilliant 60 but then lost his form.

“When Rohit Sharma is in the team and when Kohli is in form, they bat so well that they dwarf the weaknesses of the Indian batting. However, here, Rohit was absent due to injury. Kohli is in decent form but is not getting big scores. There was thus greater responsibility on the other batters, but their response was not up to expected standards” the former Pakistan skipper further said.

India have dropped down to the fifth position in the World Test Championship (2021-23) points table. They are on 53 points having won four games and losing three.

Also Read: IND v SA: Team India Avoids Any Formal Charges Against Them For The DRS Outburst During Cape Town Test