Rishabh Pant joins Virat Kohli in unwanted list after India lose first T20I against South Africa by 7 wickets

Rishabh Pant didn’t have an ideal start to his stint as the captain of the Indian team after South Africa thrashed the hosts by seven wickets in the 1st T20I of the five-match series at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday (June 09). South Africa chased down a massive target of 212 runs comfortably to go 1-0 up in the series and bring an end to India’s winning streak of 12 matches in T20Is.

Asked to bat first in the game, India got off to a good start with openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad adding 57 runs for the first wicket. After Gaikwad’s departure on 23 off 15 balls, Kishan continued his assault from one end and slammed a brilliant 76 off just 48 deliveries laced with 11 fours and three sixes.

He added an 80-run stand for the second wicket with Shreyas Iyer (36) before skipper Pant (29 off 16) and Hardik Pandya (31 off 12) propelled India to 212 runs in 20 overs. While India were expected to defend the target comfortably, the South African batters dominated the proceedings during the run-chase.

Also Read: Can’t ask Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to drop themselves to make me play in Team India: Ishan Kishan

David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen were the heroes with the bat for the Proteas with unbeaten half-centuries apiece. While Miller scored a quickfire 54 off 31 balls, Van der Dussen scored 75 off 46 balls to take South Africa over the line with five balls to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

With the loss, Pant joined former India skipper Virat Kohli on an unwanted list of captains who have lost their first game for the Men in Blue. Kohli had lost his first match as an India captain against England in Kanpur in 2017. Kohli and Pant are the only two captains to have lost in their respective first matches as captains for India.

Also Read: WATCH – Hardik Pandya surprisingly refuses single to Dinesh Karthik in 20th over during 1st T20I

Pant was appointed as the stand-in skipper of the Indian team for the ongoing five-match series against South Africa after an injury to KL Rahul ahead of the first ODI. Rahul was earlier supposed to lead the team in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma, who is not part of the squad as he has been rested post the recently-concluded IPL 2022.