NEW DELHI: India captain Rohit Sharma promised to rally strongly following their crushing innings and 32-run loss to South Africa on Thursday when they play the second and last Test of their brief series next week.
Even though India lost the opportunity to win the series, captain Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed for low scores in both innings, predicted that his team would rally and return stronger.
Since South Africa is the only nation where India have not won a Test series, the short journey there was nicknamed the 'final frontier.' However, they are unable to achieve so at this time.
"Honestly, look, we're not good enough to win this match," said Rohit, whose side was dismissed for 131 in their second innings on the third day.
"I thought we got decent runs on the board on that track in the first innings, KL Rahul did brilliantly to get us that century. But then we failed to exploit the conditions with the ball.
"Then again, we didn't show up with the bat today as well. Our batting was poor in the second innings. If you want to win test matches, you've got to come together collectively. But we failed to do that."
Rohit also singled out Virat Kohli's second innings knock as he scored 76 of the Indian runs as a one-man bulwark with wickets tumbling all around him.
"When you lose a game in three days, there's not a lot of positives but like I mentioned, the way KL Rahul batted in the first innings showed a lot of us what you need to do on that kind of pitch. A lot of our bowlers haven't been here before, they're still learning. So I don't want to be too critical of them.
"We will regroup, and we'll fight back," Rohit said.
1/10:India's series dream ends in three-day defeat by South Africa
Reuters
2/10:Innings defeat for India
<p>India's dream of winning a Test series in South Africa for the first time was ended inside three days as they crashed to an innings and 32 runs defeat in Centurion. </p>PTI
3/10:India 131 all out
<p>India crashed to 131 all out in their second innings after conceding a 163-run first innings lead. </p>Getty Images
4/10:Abject surrender
<p>A day which started with the match evenly poised turned into a rout for Rohit Sharma and his team. </p>PTI
5/10:Strong position
<p>Dean Elgar (185) and Marco Jansen (84 not out) transformed a slender 11-run lead for South Africa at the start of play into a strong position. </p>PTI
6/10:Match-winning stand
<p>Dean Elgar and Marco Jansen shared a 111-run sixth-wicket partnership as South Africa took an overnight 256/5 to 408 all out. </p>AFP
7/10:Rohit Sharma
<p>Kagiso Rabada set the tone for South Africa, bowling Rohit Sharma for a duck with a superb delivery which deviated off the pitch to hit the off stump. </p>Getty Images
8/10:Shubman Gill
<p>Shubman Gill (26) was the only other Indian batsman to reach double figures and no other batsman scored more than six. </p>Getty Images
9/10:Virat Kohli
<p>Virat Kohli hit an aggressive 76 before he was last man out but the rest of the batting collapsed against South Africa's fast bowlers on a lively pitch. </p>Reuters
10/10:India 2nd innings
<p>Virat Kohli hit 12 fours and a six in an 82-ball knock in the Indian second innings that lasted just 34.1 overs. </p>Getty ImagesIndia have never won a Test at Newlands, where the second Test starts next Wednesday.
"It's important for us to regroup as quickly as we can. It's tough to take a loss like this. But as sportsmen, we all go through these kinds of times, and you need to pick yourselves up, get ready for the next challenge, which is in front of you," he added.
(With Reuters inputs)
