South Africa vs India 1st Test: Why Rohit was picked over Rahane, reveals Virat Kohli

Cape Town: India captain Virat Kohli has defended the selection of Rohit Sharma in the first Test, saying he was picked ahead of Ajinkya Rahane on current form.

"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 really well, even in the series against Sri Lanka," said Kohli in the post-match media conference.

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"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," added Kohli.

Rohit scored 11 and 10 as South Africa bundled out India for 209 and 130 in the first and second innings respectively.

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Rahane, who has not been amongst the runs of late, had a successful tour of South Africa four years ago. With 209 runs, he was third highest run-getter in the series behind Kohli (272 runs) and Cheteshwar Pujara (280).

India lost the first Test by 72 runs with batting letting them down in both the innings.