Former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs has hit out at Proteas captain Temba Bavuma over his fitness. While targeting the current Test captain, he also took a dig at the Indian team, saying that even the Rohit Sharma-led team is better than the Proteas team.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was injured during Day 1 of the ongoing Test between India and Proteas. The Boxing Day match between the teams will take place at Centurion’s Supersport Park.
Temba Bavuma injured his hamstring and left the field. He was injured in the first session while trying to chase the ball and was later seen limping. The captain then went for some scans and it was then revealed that he had a left hamstring strain.
Temba Bavuma did not participate in the match on day 1 after being injured and his future participation in the match will depend on daily medical evaluation. The Test captain has been worried about his injuries for a while. He recently also got injured in the World Cup and missed a few matches.
Teamba Bavuma’s injury did not sit well with Herschelle Gibbs. The former Proteas player lashed out at the captain, saying that he is surprised to see how the coach allows an overweight and unfit player in the team.
“It’s ironic that the coach allowed some clearly unfit and overweight players to play when he started as Proteas coach in 2009,” he wrote on X.
It’s ironic that the coach allowed some clearly unfit and overweight players to play when he started as Proteas coach in 2009🙄
– Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) December 26, 2023
Herschelle Gibbs posted another tweet, saying that even India is in better shape than the current South Africa team. She praised Virat Kohli for making the team fit. He explained:
“I hate my butt, even India is fitter than us now…simply because Virat installed the fitness mentality.”
I hate my butt 🙄 even India is fitter than us now…simply because virat installed the fitness mentality. .
– Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) December 26, 2023
Virat Kohli is notably the fittest cricketer in the world. When he took charge of the Indian Test team, he brought a new culture to the team. Under him, the team became the fittest in the world and is currently the best in the world, thanks to Virat.
IND vs SA: In Temba Bavuma’s absence, South Africa ends Day 1 on a high
South Africa dominated Day 1 of the ongoing Test against India. They restricted the number of visitors to a total of 208/8 at the end of the first day. Putting the opponent into action, Kagiso Rabada took the team off the wheel as he removed Rohit Sharma (5) early and Nadre Burger also contributed.
The debutant removed Yashasvi Jaiswal (18) and Shubman Gill (2) to put India behind. After that, Virat Kohli (38) and Shreyas Iyer (31) played well and got the team out of trouble. However, in Temba Bavuma’s absence, Dean Elgar commanded the troops well.
Kagiso Rabada took the fife and put India on the defensive. It seemed like they would leave early. But KL Rahul (70*) stood his ground and played blind. He closed an unbeaten half-century and kept India alive in the game. He was well supported by Shardul Thakur (24) but lost his wicket early.
KL Rahul would hope to score a ton tomorrow and take India to the grand total in the first innings.