'Hatsoff to Team India' - Kagiso Rabada leaves India with a tweet

The South African team endured perhaps the worst Test series defeat since their readmission into the international cricket scene. If they thought the 2015 series against India in India was a nightmare, they still managed to draw one Test in the four-match series then. But this time, they were whitewashed 3-0 and lost two matches by an innings defeat.

The Proteas started off well by drawing the 3-match T20I series 1-1 with one game rained out under the new skipper Quinton de Kock. They even started off well in the Test series with Dean Elgar making 160 and De Kock making a century as they made over 400 runs in Vizag. However, it went downhill soon enough as Mayank Agarwal slammed a double ton and Rohit Sharma in his first Test as an opener made twin centuries to beat the African team by 203 runs.

Kagiso Rabada eager for new challenges in future

The Proteas deteriorated further as they lost the second Test in Pune by an innings with Indian captain Virat Kohli making 254*, his highest Test score and Agarwal making his second Test in two Tests. The third Test saw Kagiso Rabada bowling like the status he holds in world cricket. Ranchi wicket gave him the bounce and movement and he troubled the Indian batsmen in the morning of the first day.

However, the Indian team persisted with Rohit Sharma making 212 and Rahane making his first ton at home in three years. The Proteas bowling failed on all aspects as they picked the wrong combination in the last match, going in with an extra spinner instead of a quick bowler. Though Rabada was the highest wicket-taker for South Africa in the series, he managed just 7 wickets at an average of 40.71 with a best of 3/85.

Now the South Africa team returns home to prepare for the new challenges of facing the England team in their own backyard in December for four Test matches, three ODIs and three T20Is and Rabada is ready for the Lions challenge and tweeted a farewell message to India mentioning that he looks forward to upcoming task of facing Joe Root and his men.

Rabada tweeted, “India tour comes to an end. They were by far the better team, hats off to them. Back to the drawing board. New challenges await…”

India tour comes to an end. They were by far the better team, hats off to them. Back to the drawing board ✏️ New challenges await… 💎 pic.twitter.com/xslq5DXSXa

— Kagiso Rabada (@KagisoRabada25) October 24, 2019