India skipper Virat Kohli justifies the selection of Rohit Sharma over Ajinkya Rahane in the first Test in Cape Town by saying that the decision was based on the current form of the cricketers.

As India lost the Cape Town Test against South Africa, Kohli was questioned again for selecting Rohit over Rahane. During the post-match press conference, Virat said, “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. 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.”

During India’s last tour to South Africa four years back, Rahane proved his mettle where he became the third highest run-scorer with 209 runs in the series behind Kohli (272 runs) and Cheteshwar Pujara (280).

India was bundled out for 209 and 135 in the two innings of the series opener, losing the thrilling Cape Town Test by 72 runs. The visitors were chasing the target of just 208 runs but Vernon Philander spoiled the party by picking his career-best figures of 6 for 42 and won them the game. After day three had been a washout, Day 4 witnessed, 18 wickets fell in 64 overs, all going to seamers.