Indian captain Rishabh Pant has admitted the disappointing series defeat against South Africa and credited the Proteas for their impressive performance. Pant stressed the need for the team to learn from its mistakes, improve and focus on its strategy. Simon Harmer (6/37), Senuran Muthuswamy’s maiden Test century (109) and brilliant contributions from Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jensen helped South Africa register a spectacular 408-run win over India in the second and final Test match played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
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Rishabh Pant said after the match that it is a bit disappointing. As a team, we need to get better. We have to give credit to the opposition. We have to learn and survive as a team. He dominated the series, but at the same time, you can’t take credit for granted. We have to be clear about our mentality. In the future, we have to learn from this and be better. He played better cricket; Cricket demands that you take advantage of it as a team. And we didn’t do that, and it cost us throughout the series. The positive thing will be that we will focus on our plan and that is what we will learn from this series.
After handing Team India a crushing defeat at home, Temba Bavuma-led South Africa whitewashed the Asian giants 2-0 in the two-match Test series. Earlier, the Proteas had defeated the Indian team by 30 runs in the opening Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. South Africa’s Marco Jensen was named Player of the Match for his all-round performances, while Simon Harmer received the Player of the Series award.
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This is also South Africa’s first Test series win in India since 2000. The Proteas last won a Test series in India under Hansie Cronje, winning the series 2–0. Temba Bavuma has become the latest captain to join the list. It is also South Africa’s second biggest win by runs after 492 runs against Australia in Johannesburg in 2018. India’s two home Test series defeats in two years under Gambhir – 0-3 against New Zealand last year and now 0-2 against South Africa.