Failure to seize key moments led to series loss, says Pant

India’s inability to seize key moments cost them the series, stand-in captain Rishabh Pant said after the team slipped to a 0-2 defeat after losing the second Test by a mammoth 408 runs against South Africa at the ACA Stadium here on Wednesday.

Reflecting on the loss in the post-match presentation, Pant acknowledged both the visitors’ superiority and India’s shortcomings.

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“They (South Africa) definitely played better cricket, but at the same time, in cricket, you can’t take anything for granted. You can play at home or away, but at the same time, cricket demands that determination and that extra,” Pant said.

“There are moments in the game where you need to capitalise (on) it as a team, as a batting unit. But as a team, we didn’t capitalise on those enough for a longer period of time, and that cost us the whole series.”

In the second Test in Guwahati, where Pant took over the captaincy from the injured Shubman Gill, India allowed South Africa to recover from 246 for 6 and post a commanding 489. The visitors then batted India out of the contest entirely, setting a target of 549.

On the final day, India had opportunities to mount resistance, with both B Sai Sudharsan and nightwatcher Kuldeep Yadav receiving reprieves. But the batting unit couldn’t sustain their innings, eventually collapsing for 140. The 408-run defeat was India’s heaviest in Test cricket.

The series loss adds to India’s growing struggles at home. This was their second defeat in their last three home series, following the unprecedented 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand in 2024, a result that ended a remarkable run of 17 consecutive home-series wins over 12 years.

Pant urged the team to stay unified and channel the learnings from this challenging phase.

“Definitely, it’s a little disappointing, but as a team, we need to get better. And you’ve got to give credit to the opposition that they played better cricket than us. Because, in series like this, which has already been tough, if we dwell too much… you’ve got to take the learning and stick as a team,” he added.