Kagiso Rabada took the crucial wicket of Hardik Pandya when he was on 93. (Instagram/Faf du Plessis)
For Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, it was a disappointing end to a tremendous innings in the first Test in Cape Town against South Africa. After the visitors were left struggling at 93 for 7, the right-handed batsman scored 93 off 95 balls and led India’s resistance against Proteas’ seamers. On his way to his second Test century, a gorgeous delivery from seamer Kagiso Rabada ended his lone battle as he gave away a simple catch behind the stumps to wicketkeeper Quinton De Kock.
The wicket left South African captain Faf du Plessis jumping up in joy and he went ahead to plant a kiss on Rabada’s forehead for getting the much-needed breakthrough. The skipper also posted the photo of the kiss on his Instagram, after the right-armer climbed up ICC rankings to become the No.1 Test bowler in the world, and wrote, “This is what you get when you become the nr 1 fast bowler in the world ,a massive . Well done @rabada_25 .You deserve it champion.”
In his response to the post, the bowler joked that his girlfriend was not impressed by the gesture. “My girlfriend is complaining,” Rabada wrote. His hilarious reply received praises on social media and even International Cricket Council (ICC) went ahead and posted a screenshot of the reply with the caption, ” @faf1307 shows the love to the world’s #1 Test bowler, but not everyone is happy about it.”
😘 @faf1307 shows the love to the world’s #️⃣1️⃣ Test bowler, but not everyone is happy about it 😂 pic.twitter.com/lKZ1anTRpH
— ICC (@ICC) 11 January 2018
Rabada took 3 wickets in the first innings and then returned strongly in the second innings to take 2 more as South Africa went on to win by 72 runs in Cape Town. Pandya’s 93 remained the highest individual score made by any Indian batsman in the match and his fall paved the way for Proteas to get a crucial lead of 77 runs in the first innings. The second Test between India and South Africa in Centurion will begin from Saturday.