'You Can’t Take Cricket for Granted' – Rishabh Pant reflects on India’s 0-2 series loss to South Africa

India’s stand-in captain Rishabh Pant looked visibly disappointed as he stepped forward to assess his team’s performance after the crushing 408-run defeat to South Africa in Guwahati. The loss handed the Proteas their first-ever Test series win on Indian soil. Pant, playing in a leadership role following Shubman Gill being ruled out due to a neck injury sustained in the Kolkata Test, did not offer excuses and was candidly honest about India's lacunae.

Without naming anyone, Pant highlighted the major problems troubling the Indian team. His words reflected frustration, concern, and the need for urgent improvement. "It's a little disappointing. As a team, we need to get better… Credit to the opposition for playing better than us. They dominated the series… we're playing at home, and sometimes we were up in the game. Still, we didn't capitalise on it," he said after the loss.

Pant added that cricket demands consistency and effort regardless of the venue. He stressed that India’s batting unit must grab key moments, something the team failed to do. "Whether you're playing at home or away, cricket demands that determination and that extra effort… As a batting unit, you need to capitalise on certain moments… The positives from this series will be to focus on our own plan,” the captain added.

India Suffer Their Worst-Ever Home Test Defeat

This result marks India’s heaviest Test defeat on home soil, surpassing the 342-run loss to Australia in 2004. It also underlines a worrying pattern, as this is India’s fifth Test defeat in the past year. South Africa’s 2-0 series triumph is their maiden Test series win in India after 25 years, repeating their 2-0 victory from the 2000 tour.

See Also: 'We Win Together, We Lose…' - Gautam Gambhir breaks silence on India’s loss in Guwahati Test vs England

For India, this becomes their third-ever clean sweep at home, following the 0-3 loss to New Zealand last October. The defeat has raised serious questions about the team’s approach, consistency, and readiness for red-ball challenges ahead.