'Unfortunately, they haven't played well enough': Graeme Smith not impressed with Du Plessis' captaincy

Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith lashed out at Faf du Plessis, the current RSA Test captain, for bringing batsman Temba Bavuma for the toss in Ranchi as a "proxy captain" during the third Test match against India on Saturday.

Du Plessis in the past did successfully pull off this move and today he tried it again after losing the toss for the first Test two match in Vizag and in Pune.

But the Proteas suffered massive losses on both the occasions. 

"It was a quirky moment but for me it was a little bit pathetic," Smith said while speaking to Star Sports.  

"You know, they are looking at the wrong places for the reasons they have lost the game. Unfortunately, they haven't played well enough."

"Yes, winning the toss in the sub-continent is a nice thing to do but if you play well enough, you can still compete," he added. 

Despite Faf's plan outsmart his opponent, Bavuma failed to call it right and Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first again. 

India got off to their worst start in the series against South Africa in Ranchi and lost three early wickets on in the innings.

Kagiso Rabada's excellent bowling proved to take the match in favour of the Proteas. However, after the dismissal of Mayank Agarwal followed by Cheteshwar Pujara and then Virat Kohli came in Ajinkya Rahane.

The Mumbai batsman along with Hitman Rohit Sharma changed the dynamics of the game post-lunch.

However, bad light interrupted play and later on heavy rain caused an early call-off.

Rohit Sharma 117* and Ajinkya Rahane 83* were India's stand out batsmen as the hosts ended the day on 224/3 after 58 overs.