'It's not like we don't know how to...' - Rohit Sharma after India's three-day succumb to South Africa in Boxing Day Test

India's dream of success in the rainbow nation continued as South Africa registered a comprehensive victory by an innings and 32 runs in the Boxing Day Test on Thursday. While the Indian bowlers could not get much out of the Centurion surface, the Proteas bowlers made the most of the conditions and gave the opposition batters a tough time in the middle. Apart from KL Rahul's century in the first innings and Virat Kohli's one-man fight in the second innings, there were no takeaways from the Indian batting. 

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While captain Rohit Sharma agreed that the batters did not perform well, he refused to admit that they had trouble dealing with the moving ball overseas. The visitors were bowled out for 245 and 131, lasting only 67.4 overs in the first innings and 34.1 in the second. On the other hand, the Proteas batters were held to 108 overs in their first innings alone.

Speaking after the match, Rohit said that batters should not be criticised much for their poor performance in a single match. He backed them saying that they are the same set of players who have done well in England and Australia in the last few years. 

"There's no need to motivate them. They are all international cricketers. This performance is just one. Don't forget what we did in Australia and England. We won in Australia with our batting. We drew in England with batting and bowling. It's not like we don't know how to bat outside India. Sometimes opposition plays better than you. It's not like they batted 110 overs and we couldn't even do that. You go and check the scorecards of the last four or five away tours we have done," the 36-year-old said.

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You can’t just go with one mindset in these conditions: Rohit 

The veteran opener said that every batter has a unique technique but they need to have intent and discipline when playing in overseas conditions. He cited Rahul's sensational knock in the first innings as an example of showing intent as well as respecting conditions. 

"We can’t just go and swing our bats. That’s not the conditions to do that. You got to understand that there is a thin line between showing that intent and discipline as well," Rohit said.

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"Every individual is different and we try talking to every individual in the way they want to play and keeping conditions in mind, what they can do. It’s a mixture of everything, intent, little bit of discipline and you can’t just go with one mindset in these conditions," he added. 

India's bowling was also not up to the mark. To some extent, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were able to trouble the Proteas batters, but it was nowhere near what the opposition bowlers did against Rohit and Co. 

"This was not a 400-run wicket and we gave too many runs. We sprayed the ball all around, but it happens. One can’t depend on one particular bowler (Bumrah), the other three pacers also needed to perform their roles, we could learn from how South Africa bowled," Rohit said.