South African pacer Kagiso Rabada was the biggest headache for the Indian batsmen on Day 1 of the first Test of the two-match series. Rabada took a five-wicket haul and reduced India to 208/8 at stumps on the first day. However, Indian batsman KL Rahul played an unbeaten 70 runs and helped India reach a stable situation at the end of the day.
Kagiso Rabada He finished Day 1 of the Centurion Test with figures of 5/44 in 17 overs and removed big Indian names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur. While Rabada helped South Africa take the lead on Day 1 of the first Test, former South African pacer Makhaya Ntini criticized Cricket South Africa.
Kagiso Rabada is already up there – Makhaya Ntini criticizes South Africa cricket
Kagiso Rabada has been one of the leading pacers of the South African cricket team after Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. Rabada currently has 285 test windows and can reach more than 400 test windows.
While talking to PTI, Makhaya Ntini, who himself picked 390 Test wickets, came out strong as South Africa Cricket and asked how Kagiso Rabada will complete 400 Test wickets if the Proteas only play 2 Tests in a year.
Makhaya Ntini said: “He is already up there (among the greats). When you talk about those guys, when you talk about those bowlers, they have crossed the 400 mark and KG (Rabada) is chasing the 300 mark. But we have a huge problem. You play two test matches a year and what is that? Do you think this guy (Rabada) can last until he reaches that milestone?
“It’s not going to be easy because of the nature of the games (number of matches and formats) that South Africa is being given to play against other countries,” he said, citing the problem of the Proteas playing only three Tests this year.
The South African team has only played two tests at home since 2022, which was against Bangladesh in 2022. Since then, South Africa has played many matches abroad in which it has not been able to deliver promising performances. Kagiso Rabada has pace and the bounce of the South African wickets also makes him more lethal.
Coming to the highlights of day 1 of the IND vs SA first test match, the Indian team lost 3 wickets in the first session for a score of 91 runs. India lost players like captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer tried to help the Indian team come back and the duo added 68 runs for the fourth wicket. The Indian team will want to return on Day 2 of the first Test match and will want to continue from 208/8. The Indian bowlers may prove too difficult for the Proteas once they come out to bat in their first innings.
