Rohit Sharma acknowledging Virat Kohli’s effort© Twitter
Virat Kohli emerged as the lone fighter as India looked to put runs on the board against a formidable South Africa pace attack Thursday. Kohli’s 76-run knock was the highest score by an Indian batter in the second innings, that too by a big margin, as the batting unit crumbled against Proteas pacers. On Day 3 of the first Test, skipper Rohit Sharma knew that Virat’s dismissal meant that it was all over for the team. Yet, he went ahead and gave Kohli his due credit for the valiant knock.
A video has emerged on social media in which Rohit could be seen lauding Kohli for his effort in the middle as the latter walked up the stairs to head into the Indian dressing room.
Both Rohit and Kohli have been in the spotlight, having marked their return to cricket after the World Cup 2023 final heartbreak. While Kohli did manage to show his true self in the second innings, skipper Rohit was far from convincing.
After the conclusion of the match, Rohit admitted that there’s a need for both batters and bowlers to step up to the challenge and play fearless cricket.
“We were not good enough to win. Having been put into bat, KL batted well to get us that score but then we didn’t exploit the conditions with the ball and then again didn’t show up today with the bat. If we have to win Test matches, we have to come together collectively, and we didn’t do that.”
“Guys have come here before; we know what to expect and everyone has their own plan. Our batters were challenged and we didn’t adapt well. This is a boundary-scoring ground; we saw them score many but we need to understand the opposition and their strengths as well. We didn’t bat well in both innings; that’s why we stand here. Not too many positives to finish the game within 3 days, but KL showed what we need to do on this sort of pitch,” Rohit asserted.
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