Cape Town: Indian captain Virat Kohli has stood by his decision of preferring Rohit Sharma over vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane even after losing the first Test by 72 runs due to dismal batting performance.
India were bowled out for 135, failing to chase down 208 as Philander bagged a career-best six-for to help South Africa to take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
"Well, we decided to go on current form. Rohit has scored runs in the last three Test matches that he has played, and he was batting well, even in the series against Sri Lanka," said Kohli in the post-match media conference.
Rohit failed in both innings scoring only 11 and 10 on a difficult pitch where almost all the batsmen struggled.
"These things can always be looked at in hindsight, thinking what if or what if not. But we decided to go with this combination and current form was definitely the criterion," added Kohli.
Rahane, who has not been amongst the runs of late, had a successful tour of South Africa four years ago. With 209 runs, he was third highest run-getter in the series behind Kohli (272 runs) and Cheteshwar Pujara (280).
Kohli’s counterpart du Plessis though admitted, he was surprised at Rahane’s exclusion who averages a healthy 53 in overseas conditions.
Barring Haridk Pandya India ‘s batting fell flat on both innings and the visitors slumped to a 72-run loss at Newlands.