‘I think tactically it was probably a big mistake’ – Ravi Shastri points out huge mistake in Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in 1st Test against South Africa

South Africa and India are currently locking horns for the first test match of India’s tour of South Africa in Centurion. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri recently highlighted a huge blunder in the captaincy of Rohit Sharma which gave South Africa an advantage while batting in the first innings. India gave South Africa a trail of 245 runs which was easily chaseable for the Proteas batters. 

In the commentary box alongside Sanjay Manjarekar, Ravi Shastri highlighted that during the lunch, head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma should have discussed bringing in Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna later while bringing in Jasprit Bumrah first. Ravi Shastri called using Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur earlier a tactical mistake which became a huge advantage for the South African batters. 

Ravi Shastri on the India team’s missed opportunity

“On any pecking order, these two (Shardul and Prasidh) would have been the last to start the proceedings (after lunch). That’s something that we’ve discussed multiple times when I was the coach. And more often than not we decided to go with the best two bowlers at the start of the session,” said Ravi Shastri. 

He further added, “If you cast your mind back, India would feel they have missed a massive trick in the first half hour of play. Two bowlers they started with, that tactically was a big mistake.” 

While agreeing with Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar said, “Clearly India missed the trick. This is something Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma must have thought about during the break and then decided to go with Prasidh and Shardul.”

SA vs IND Playing XI for 1st Test Match 

South Africa Playing XI: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma(c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna