Rishabh Pant took to social media to apologise to the Indian fans after the 2-0 series whitewash at the hands of South Africa.
India faced a 0-2 whitewash at home, with the Proteas dominating the two Tests in Kolkata and Guwahati. South Africa, the reigning World Test champions, achieved their first Test victory in India since 2010 with the win in Kolkata. The visitors then secured their historic series triumph by inflicting India’s heaviest defeat, a 408-run loss, in the second Test. This series win marks South Africa’s second Test series victory in India, following their 2-0 sweep in February-March 2000 under Hansie Cronje.
“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. 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,” Pant posted.
“Representing India is the greatest honour of our lives. 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. Thank you for your unwavering support and love! Jai Hind,” he added.
Pant, who was the stand-in captain for injured Shubman Gill in the second Test, had expressed his dissapointed after the match.
“It’s little disappointing. As a team we need to get better. We need to give credit to the opposition. They dominated the series but at the same time, you can’t take cricket for granted (because of playing at home),” Pant had said in the post-match presentation.
