South Africa on Thursday doused the Indian dreams of winning a Test series in South Africa when Temba Bavuma’s men convincingly beat Rohit Sharma’s side by an innings and 32 runs in the IND vs SA 1st Test. The dominant Proteas display received widespread applause from former cricketers and cricket fans alike, but the most special acknowledgement came from little master Sachin Tendulkar himself. The Indian legend took to social media after the match to praise the performance of the Proteas.
South Africa dominated the IND vs SA 1st Test right from the start. After putting India to bat first, the Proteas bowlers produced wickets at regular intervals, not allowing Indian batters to settle in the tricky Centurion pitch. KL Rahul’s gutsy ton pushed India’s first innings score to 245, but it wasn’t enough as South Africa came out all guns blazing. The Proteas scored a huge 408 runs in the first innings, riding on outgoing Dean Elgar’s 185. Such was the dominance of the Proteas batters that Temba Bavuma’s absence made no difference to the match.
The Indians folded like a pack of cards in the second innings, with Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill the only batters to reach double figures in India’s second innings as India were all-out for 131.
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar provided his views on the match on social media. The little master hailed the Proteas bowling display while raising questions over India’s shot selection in the match.
“Well played South Africa! While I initially felt the South African team would’ve been unhappy after the 1st innings, their pace attack surpassed expectations and showcased remarkable skill in the 2nd innings, in spite of the pitch becoming more favourable for batting 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 Elgar, Jansen, Bedingham, @imVkohli and @klrahul truly seemed at ease with the bat, navigating the conditions with technique and poise,” Sachin wrote on X (formerly Twitter after the match.
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