Rohit Sharma suffered a double failure in the Boxing Day Test as he was dismissed for an 8-ball duck by Kagiso Rabada on Day 3 (Thursday, December 28). The Indian captain, who was dismissed for just 5 runs in the first innings, failed to contribute in the second innings as well. Interestingly, on both occasions, he was removed by South Africa's premier pacer, Rabada.ย
On the back of Dean Elgar's sensational 185 and Marco Jansen's unbeaten 84, the home team took a massive lead of 163 runs on a difficult pitch. Having failed in the first innings, the Indian top order was expected to play maturely. But the Proteas bowlers wreaked havoc once again, with Rabads drawing first blood in the third over.
It was a full, angling delivery to the middle stump but seamed away to beat the drive and knocked back off the stump. Rohit was undone by a nearly unplayable delivery and equaled Virender Sehwag's record of third-most ducks for India in international cricket. This is the seventh time Rabada getting the wicket of Rohit in test cricket.ย
South Africa on top as pacers dismantle the Indian top-order
The Proteas pacers were on fire as they tore apart the Indian top-order. Nandre Burger got the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal and both openers returned to the hut within 6 overs. Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli then steadied the ship for a while, but the former fell in the 14th over off Marco Jansen's delivery. Shreyas Iyer was the next victim of all-rounder Jansen.
Expectations were high on KL Rahul, but the last match centurion failed to deliver this time. At the time of writing, India are 110-7 in 30 overs with the loss of seven wickets. Meanwhile, Kohli registered a dominant half-century with a boundary in the 28th over. Apart from the former India captain, none of the Indian batters could find any resistance.
Here's how fans reacted to Rohit Sharma's 8-ball duck in the second innings:
Duckman for a reason ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐#INDvSA
โ แทฮแโฑฎฮ๐ธ (@bi_smah_) December 28, 2023
Bro beating his own records
โ Aparichitudu (@Cinema_Paithyam) December 28, 2023
Hitman nahi Duckman bolo๐ญ๐ญ
โ msd_stan (@bdrijalab) December 28, 2023
Rare failure though
Expected 15runs for sure
Haha Moye moye gareebo ka hitman๐คฃ๐คฃ
โ BUTT BA56 (@Dinga__BA56) December 28, 2023
Not easy on a moving wicket..
โ BETaWAY (@RoundHouseBet) December 28, 2023
Aaj Vadav Pav nainDuck khaya jayega Dinner mein.
โ BA_56 Forever (@Babar__56_) December 28, 2023
No Highways no Party๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
Bad day for hitman
โ Hassan. (@Heyitshassan) December 28, 2023
Unlucky man ๐
โ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ข๐ขโดโต๐ฅ (@rushiii_12) December 28, 2023
We are waiting for your biggest comeback๐ฅ๐ช๐ช