India Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant has expressed regret for the team’s pathetic performance in the 0-2 series defeat to South Africa and promised to “regroup, refocus, and reset” in order to return stronger.
India suffered a 0–2 drubbing in the series, which concluded with the second Test in Guwahati on Tuesday. Pant captained the side in the match, with regular skipper Shubman Gill sidelined by a neck injury.
The team’s path to the World Test Championship final became more challenging after losing the match by a massive 408 runs, further undermining the illusion of invincibility around its home record.
“There is no shying away from the fact that we didn’t play good enough cricket over the last two weeks. As a team and as individuals, we always want to perform at the highest level and bring smiles to billions of Indians,” Pant, who is personally drawing flak for his reckless shot selection during the series, said in a post on ‘X’.
“Sorry we couldn’t live up to expectations this time, but sport teaches you to learn, adapt and grow – both as a team and as individuals… We know what this team is capable of and we will work hard, regroup, refocus and reset to come back stronger and better as a team & individuals,” he added.
According to the wicketkeeper-batsman, playing for India is the players’ greatest honor.
The humiliating 0-3 whitewash at the hands of a lesser-known New Zealand team occurred just a year prior to the loss to a well-prepared South Africa. The ineffectiveness of Indian batters against good spinners was exploited by both touring teams.
Due to the recent setbacks, head coach Gautam Gambhir has been under the most pressure. His fixation on using all-rounders rather than slotting specialists for particular positions has drawn criticism from a number of former players.
India are not scheduled to play any more Test cricket until next year.
