3 reasons why India lost the first test against South Africa

South Africa defeated India by an innings and 32 runs in the first test in Centurion.

South Africa have crushed the dreams of Indian fans and extended India’s wait to win their first ever test series on South African soil. India suffered a heavy defeat by an innings and 32 runs in the first test played at Supersport Park in Centurion. Proteas had a dominating win over India in just 3 days as Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger together picked a total of 14 wickets. Dean Elgar also had a terrific game and was adjudged player of the match award for his excellent innings of 185 runs.

While on the other hand it was a completely different story. Apart from one innings from KL Rahul (101), no Indian batter could go on to play a fighting knock in the game. India also suffered a massive slip in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 points table. India went down to 5th place with 44.44 PCT points and 16 overall points in 3 test matches. There were a few concerns about India’s performance in Centurion, let’s have a look at 3 possible reasons that caused a big disappointment to Indian fans.

Here are three major factors why India lost the first test to South Africa:

1. Poor batting application :

Apart from KL Rahul’s century in the first innings and Virat Kohli’s 76 in the second, there was no other impactful innings by Indian batsmen. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma managed to score only 5 runs in two innings and he was badly exposed by Kagiso Rabada in the second innings. South African pacers targeted Indian batters mainly around the off-stump. Only two Indian batsmen Shubman Gill (26) and Virat Kohli (76) managed to reach the double-digit mark in the second innings.

2. Bowlers not bowling perfect length:

Team India were bowled out for 245 in the first innings and they had a real chance of restricting South Africa early due to prevailing pitch and weather conditions, but Indian bowlers lost the opportunity and opted to bowl short and good length deliveries against the opposition batsmen. South African pacers troubled the star-studded Indian line-up with fuller-length deliveries around the stumps, but the entire Indian pace attack were looking to bowl only short or good length deliveries.

3. Poor team Selection :

Team selection remains a major concern in Indian cricket. To accommodate a few names, team management does not give much importance to the balance of the squad. Team India went in with a combination of six batsmen and five bowlers, but still couldn’t make the right balance due to Ravindra Jadeja’s absence. Kuldeep Yadav’s selection ahead of Ravi Ashwin would have made more sense considering Ashwin’s numbers away from home, while Mukesh Kumar’s bowling length would have been perfect for India in Centurion over debutant Prasidh Krishna.

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