India Player Ratings from 1st Test vs South Africa as Rohit Sharma & Co. fall to crushing loss despite Virat Kohli's resistance
Team India fell to a crushing defeat in the opening game of the two-match World Test Championship series against South Africa, going down by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion.
Dean Elgar notched up a resolute 185 in the hosts' only innings, with supporting contributions from David Bedingham and Marco Jansen. Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger starred with the ball as India managed a disappointing 131 all-out after conceding a significant first-innings lead.
On that note, here are India's player ratings from the first Test against South Africa.
IND vs SA 2023: Bumrah, Kohli, Rahul shine for Team India
Rohit Sharma: 1/10
Rohit had a woeful outing in Centurion. He threw his wicket away in atrocious fashion in the first innings before receiving a beauty from Rabada in the second. His captaincy was extremely disappointing as India cut a collective listless figure on the field.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: 4/10
Jaiswal's knock seemed to be going to plan in the first innings before he was sucked into a loose drive. While he has the technique to succeed, he had a rough welcome to South African conditions, managing a combined 22 runs.
Shubman Gill: 3/10
Gill has plenty of work to do on his technique. He was strangled down the leg-side in the first innings before playing a careless drive in the second. The No. 3 batter never looked comfortable in the middle, and both dismissals weren't acceptable. He also dropped a catch in the slip.
Virat Kohli: 9/10
Kohli was a class apart in the middle. He managed 38 and 76 in the two innings, playing some delightful strokes while gritting it out against quality bowling. Only a couple of moments of magic from Rabada undid him.
Shreyas Iyer: 4/10
Like Gill, Shreyas looked unconvincing. While he rode his luck to survive for a bit in the first innings, he was caught out with ease in the second. The No. 5 batter arguably doesn't have the skills to make an impact on South African soil.
KL Rahul: 8/10
Rahul's first-innings hundred was perhaps his best in the format. Batting with the tail and braving challenging conditions, the keeper-batter came up with an all-time great knock to take India to a competitive total.
His glovework was neat for the most part, although the drive he played on Day 3 was unbecoming of a player of his resolve.
Ravichandran Ashwin: 6/10
Ashwin bowled well and was unlucky not to get more reward for his efforts. He needed to step up with the bat in Ravindra Jadeja's absence, but he notched up twin failures.
Shardul Thakur: 2/10
Thakur was the most expensive Indian bowler on display. While he eventually dismissed Elgar, he sprayed the ball all over the place, overstepped several times, bowled at a pedestrian pace and was never able to build any pressure. The all-rounder made a gritty batting contribution in the first innings, though.
Jasprit Bumrah: 8.5/10
Bumrah was unsurprisingly the pick of the Indian bowlers. He finished with four wickets after bowling the most overs among his teammates and never let the South African batters off the hook. It was a welcome reintroduction to Test cricket.
Mohammed Siraj: 6/10
Siraj bowled well on Day 1, but on the whole, it wasn't an encouraging display from the fast bowler. His economy rate was just under four, and he dished out a few too many boundary balls as his overs wore on. He needs to do more in Mohammed Shami's absence.
Prasidh Krishna: 3/10
Making his Test debut, Prasidh was favored to succeed in helpful conditions. However, he looked out of rhythm and down on pace throughout the 20 overs he bowled. The youngster leaked 93 runs, conceding plenty of boundaries.