'Rohit was very kind to Shardul and Prasidh' - Dinesh Karthik highlights poor show by Indian seam duo in first Test

India lost the first Test against South Africa by an innings and 32 runs at SuperSport Park, Centurion and went 0-1 down in the two-match series. The Rohit Sharma-led side could only score 245 and 131 in the two innings in reply to South Africa’s massive score of 408 in the first innings courtesy of a splendid hundred by Dean Elgar (185).

Following India’s loss, India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik came down heavily on the seam duo of Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna who failed to provide any support to Jasprit Bumrah during the game. Commenting on their performance, Karthik said that Thakur was there in the previous series as well but despite that, he put up an ordinary performance this time around.

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“Shardul and Prasidh definitely need to up their game. Rohit was very kind to them when he said they’re young bowlers. But Shardul was there at the previous series as well. He did pretty well. But this time, it was a very ordinary performance. Prasidh Krishna is young bowler and it shows that he doesn't have too much first-class experience. He was giving away one too many boundary balls. There wasn't any control and that’s never a good sign in Test cricket,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

He further said that India missed the services of Mohammed Shami badly who’s been ruled out of the series due to an ankle injury. He further recalled Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who used to do a brilliant job as second or third seamer.

Without Shami there, this Indian attack is not what it used to be: Karthik

"India prides itself in the last few years on how good the bowling attack is. But you could see that without Mohammed Shami there, this Indian attack is not what it used to be. Before, we had Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They gave us at least consistency in length, and that was missing in a big way today as well," Karthik added.

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Meanwhile, India will have a chance to make a comeback and level the series in the second Test beginning from Wednesday, January 03 at Newlands, Cape Town. Notably, India have managed to draw just one Test series in South Africa in 2010 under the leadership of MS Dhoni and have not won a single series in nine attempts.