'Don't mention pitch' - Fans troll Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan for poor display in the first ODI vs South Africa

India and South Africa locked horns in the first of the three-match ODI series at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Indian skipper Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first in the rain-hit match that was reduced to 40 overs per side. Batting first, South Africans posted a total of 249 runs in the allotted 40 overs on the backs of brilliant knocks from David Miller and Heinrich Klassen.

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While chasing the target, the Indian top order started very slowly and the top four Indian batters in the order could score only 46 runs after facing 102 balls i.e., 17 overs. This performance from the top order didn’t go down well with the Indian cricket fans and they took no time in lashing out at young batters like Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad for their poor display in the series opener against the Proteas.

Here's how fans reacted to the batting of the Indian top order:

Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad wasted too many balls else would have been a different story. Tried defending it all when we started chasing with RR of more than 6. These kids not yet ready for international.

Don't mention pitch, Shardul and Samson batted on same.#INDvsSA

— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) October 6, 2022

Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad played for to just Secured there place..

Ishan Kishan #Ruturaj Gaikwad

Lord Shardul Thakur #SanjuSamson
#IndvsSAodi pic.twitter.com/eOm0DpDPgg

— Vaibhav D (@Vaibhav04563161) October 6, 2022

Ishan kishan and ruturaj gaikwad should themselves leave the team and play more domestic before they display such ridiculous batting anymore #ishankishan #ruturajgaikwad #INDvSA #INDvsSA

— Sachin (@sachii656) October 6, 2022

We lost the match there when Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan played 80 balls scoring only 39 runs from it. They doesn't even know how to rotate strike.

Well played Shardul Thakur and Sanju samson. #IndvsSAodi

— Aru★ (@Aru_Ro45) October 6, 2022

Gaikwad and ishan kishan only IPL level player.
Useless.

— Viceroy (@bostontown9) October 6, 2022

Prithvi shaw at place of ishan Kishan in ODI series against SA.
Who say no? pic.twitter.com/mEWcbW1X4K

— Temba Bavuma 🇮🇳 (@Uboss333) October 2, 2022

Prithvi Shaw better than Ruturaj Gaikwad in all format 💙#BCCI #CricketTwitter #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/1ma8M7mpoB

— Suniti Pal (@SunitiPal2) October 6, 2022

Furthermore, speaking about the first match, then the star South African batters David Miller and Heinrich Klassen played the brilliant knocks of 74 and 75 runs respectively. Other than these two, senior wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock also played a crucial knock of 48 runs. These knocks helped the visitors to post a total of 249 runs for the loss of four wickets in the allotted 40 overs.

While chasing the target, the Indians lost their four wickets only on the score of 51 runs, and that too in 17.4 overs. Following this collapse, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson took the charge of the inning and stitched a partnership of 67 runs for the fifth wicket. Sanju Samson played a brilliant knock of 86 runs that eventually went in vain as South Africa won the match by nine runs.

Currently, Temba Bavuma’s men are leading the three-match ODI series with a lead of 1-0.