India skipper Rohit Sharma received a lot of flak for his shot selection on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Rohit started with a well-timed boundary against Kagiso Rabada and looked in control, leaving well outside the off-stump on an overcast morning. However, he threw his wicket away for just 5 while trying to pull a Rabada bouncer as early as the fifth over.
However, India batting coach Vikram Rathour defended Rohit’s shot selection after the close of play on Day 1, saying that it is a productive shot for him and the team management will back him to continue taking on the short balls.
"Rohit, I mean, I have spoken about it earlier as well. This is the shot he believes in, this is the shot he scores a lot of runs with. This is his shot. So, he is going to play this shot," Rathour said at the press conference.
"Some days, it will come off. Some days, it won't. So today, it didn't. We can talk about it. On another day, he will hit for a six and everybody will say this is the shot he plays really well. We have heard people say he is the best puller in the world. He believes in it. We are okay, as a team management we are backing it," he added.
After Rohit’s dismissal, India also lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (17) and Shubman Gill (2) cheaply to find themselves reeling at 24/3
While Virat Kohli (38) and Shreyas Iyer (31) added 68 runs for the fourth wicket to steady the ship, Rabada removed both of them in quick succession in the post-lunch session.
Following their dismissals, KL Rahul rose to the occasion for India. Playing his first Test match as a wicketkeeper-batter, Rahul returned with an impressive unbeaten 70, propelling the visitors to 208/8 at stumps on Day 1, a position that appeared improbable earlier on.
"It was always going to be challenging. The weather was overcast. The pitch was under cover for a day or more than that. We would have loved to have couple of wickets in hand, but it's okay. We did reasonably well," the batting coach said, summarising the day's play.
Heading into the second day, KL Rahul has Mohammed Siraj for company with Prasidh Krishna to follow.
