DTVHINDIWTC Points Table 2023-25: After losing the Centurion Test, Team India suffered another blow, India fell to fifth position.
Indian Cricket Team (Image Credit- Twitter X) India suffered a humiliating defeat by an innings and 32 runs in the first match of the two-match Test series against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. This defeat not only shattered India’s dream of winning the Test series in South Africa, but also brought down Rohit Sharma’s team from the top position in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. India were unbeaten in the 2023-2025 cycle of the WTC before the first Test against the Proteas. The Asian team had won one Test and drawn the other against West Indies in July. Now, they have tasted defeat for the first time and have slipped to fifth place with 16 points and 44.44 percentage points (PCT). Meanwhile, Temba Bavuma & Co. topped the table with 12 points and 100% win percentage. SA v IND: Status of World Test Championship points table of Centurion Test match After South Africa in the points table, Pakistan is at second place with 22 points and 61.11 percentage points in 3 matches. New Zealand is at third position with 12 points and 50 percentage points in 2 matches. After this is Bangladesh. Bangladesh has 12 points and 50 percentage points from 2 matches. The Indian team is at fifth position with 16 points and 44.44 percentage points in 3 test matches. Talking about the first test of the series, on the basis of KL Rahul’s excellent century, Team India managed to score 245 runs in its first innings against South Africa. When the South African team came to bat in the first innings, the pitch was a little easy for batting. Dean Elgar scored a brilliant 185 runs for the African team. South Africa took a huge lead of 163 runs in the first innings. In the second innings too, the performance of the Indian batsmen was very poor and they were out for just 131 runs. Virat Kohli fought single-handedly for the team in the second innings, scoring 76 runs in 82 balls. While Kagiso Rabada performed brilliantly by taking five wickets in the first innings, Nandre Berger stole the limelight. Also read: Khiladi Kumar understands Shikhar Dhawan’s pain
SA v IND: African bowlers got more help than Indian bowlers – former cricketer told the main reason for the defeat
In the Centurion Test, India lost by an innings and 32 runs. RSA v IND (Photo Source: Getty Images) Former Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that the South African fast bowlers got more help from the Centurion pitch than the Indian bowlers. Explaining the reason behind this, he said that African bowlers are taller than Indian bowlers due to which they got more help and bounce from the pitch. The African team defeated the visiting team by an innings and 32 runs on the third day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday, 28 December. They bowled out Rohit Sharma and company for 245 and 131 runs in their two innings. On the other hand, Indian bowlers were seen struggling against the African batsmen and due to this South Africa scored a huge score of 408 runs. Aakash Chopra gave a big statement after losing the test match against South Africa Reviewing the match in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra claimed that the relatively short Indian bowlers could not take advantage of the conditions. He said, “There was a lot of help (for the bowlers) on this Centurion pitch. Some balls went up, the way Dean Elgar got out on the ball of Shardul Thakur or the way Yashasvi Jaiswal got out on the ball of Nandre Berger.” The former Indian opener further said, “Since their fast bowlers are tall, they take full advantage of the conditions, which our bowlers are not able to do. Our bowlers are a little weak. He is not as tall and does not get as much help from the pitch. Which benefits the opposing team.” Let us tell you that, Jasprit Bumrah (4/69) and Mohammed Siraj (2/91), these were the two bowlers who put pressure on the African batsmen to some extent. Whereas Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna together took only two wickets and gave a total of 194 runs in 39 overs. Also read: ACB announces 18-man squad for T20I series against UAE
SA v IND: Team India is missing that one player a lot – Dinesh Karthik’s big statement
Mohammed Shami had performed brilliantly in the World Cup 2023. Dinesh Karthik Rohit Sharma (Photo Source: Twitter) Team India’s wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik said that the Indian team is missing the injured Mohammed Shami in the ongoing Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. 33-year-old fast bowler Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He was rested for the series against Australia and South Africa. It was expected that Shami would play an important role in the two-match Test series against the Proteas, but due to an ankle injury, he was ruled out of this series as well. On the second day of the Boxing Day Test, India scored 245 runs thanks to a brilliant century from KL Rahul, after which the hosts ended the day with a score of 256/5. Dinesh Karthik gave a big statement regarding Mohammed Shami Speaking to Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said, “He (Mohammed Shami) has grown in stature as a bowler and leader of the fast bowling group. He is an able lieutenant of Jasprit Bumrah. You want to bowl with a straight seam on a pitch like this. I promise you that, if he had played, he would have definitely got some wickets. The Indian team is really missing him. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj took two wickets each for India. On his Test debut, Prasidh Krishna gave 61 runs in 15 overs and took one wicket. Seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur could not take a single wicket giving 57 runs in 12 overs. Karthik felt that Prasidh and Shardul did not provide enough support to Bumrah and Siraj on the second day. Karthik further said, “Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna were going close to 118 runs in their 27 overs. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj gave only 111 runs in their 31 overs. Siraj was a bit expensive, especially in the last spell as he bowled some brilliant balls. You could see that whenever he was on the field you felt that he could get you a wicket or two. Whereas with Shardul or Prasidh, you have to wait for the batsman to make a mistake.” Also read: Former cricketers criticized Rohit Sharma’s captaincy
