“What KL Rahul did in the first innings is the perfect example of intent” - Rohit Sharma after Centurion loss

Team India captain Rohit Sharma praised KL Rahul for his determined hundred in the first innings of the Centurion Test against South Africa, braving challenging conditions. Using the knock as an example, Rohit stated that Rahul displayed the kind of intent that India are expecting from their batters.

India went down to South Africa by an innings and 32 runs on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test on Thursday, December 28. Sent into bat after losing the toss, they were held to 245 in their first innings, with Rahul scoring 101 of those runs.

Speaking at a post-match press conference following India’s defeat, Rohit hailed Rahul’s first-innings batting effort and commented:

"What KL Rahul did in the first innings is the perfect example of the intent, at the same time respecting the conditions as well. At the end of the day, he scored runs at a strike rate of 71, and he put the bad balls away. That is what we talk about intent. We don't want to just go and swing our bats. If there are conditions we'll do that. There is a very thin line."

"Every individual is quite different and we try to talk to every individual in the way they want to play. Obviously, keeping the conditions in mind, what better they can do as well,” he added.

The Indian captain opined that in South Africa a mixture of intent, discipline, and temperament is needed to succeed.

“When you come to places like this, with conditions like that, you need to have all kinds of things in your mind. You got to go and adapt and know that there will be times when the bowlers will be tired, and try to cash in," the 36-year-old explained.

Rohit had a forgettable Test with the bat, registering scores of 5 and 0. He was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in both innings.

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“Have full confidence in the guys” - Rohit backs team despite setback

The loss in the first Test means India will have to wait for another tour to try and register their maiden Test series win in the Rainbow Nation. Rohit, however, backed his side to bounce back strongly in the New Year Test.

"It's not always going to be happy days for the captain. On days like these, the captain needs to stand up and get around the team more than anything else... We can learn from what went wrong. But when you take the job, you will have days like this. I have full confidence in the guys we have here now. But now it's about getting together and standing for each other," he concluded.

The second Test of the two-match series will be played at Newlands in Cape Town from January 3 to 7.