It's a tough pill to swallow, but we move on. The Indian cricket team were handed a Boxing Day Test humbling of an innings and 32 runs by South Africa in the two-match Test series. 

While this series marked the return of a few senior players, including India skipper Rohit Sharma, the Centurion pitch - conducive to pace attack and a brief cameo of rain - proved a tricky jigsaw puzzle for the visitors.

We briefly recap the major events of this Test match.

Kohli-Iyer stand, KL century revives IND batting

The new-look Indian top-order struggled to keep up with the varied pace lengths of Nandre Burger and Kagiso Rabada in the initial 10-12 overs.

A 68-run partnership between Virat Kohli (38) and Shreyas Iyer (31) for the fourth wicket served as a signal to push back against the Proteas bowlers. KL Rahul, coming to bat at number six, would take a cue from this and carry the team closer to the 250-run mark on the scoreboard with his eighth Test hundred (101 off 137 balls). 

Coetzee bags a wicket

Gerald Coetzee, the newest member of our fa-MI-ly, was at the receiving end of the runs the most among the South African bowlers. But despite that, the speedster managed to pocket the wicket of Mohammed Siraj to ease the pressure on himself.

BOOM BOOM grabs four

The trademark run-up, the trademark bowling angle, the trademark toe-crushing deliveries and the trademark Jasprit Bumrah wickets in Test cricket: WE MISSED THIS.

From the bowling point of view, Boom Boom’s return to red-ball cricket was a successful one. His performance - four wickets for 69 runs in 26.4 overs at an economy of 2.58 - indicated how much India missed him. And given the absence of Mohammed Shami, Bumrah showed why he is a talisman for India.

Elgar ton, Virat fightback and the setback

Dean Elgar, who is set to retire from international cricket following the SA vs IND Test series, notched a match-defining 185 and pivoted South Africa to an eventual first-innings total of 408.

India, in turn, had a massive deficit on the scoreboard. Wickets kept falling at odd intervals; however, they managed to cross the 100-run mark thanks to a hard-fought innings from Virat Kohli (76).

Paltan, the team needs your support and love to force a comeback into the two-match Test series. What should you do? Don your analytical hats, and let us know your playing strategies for the second Test at Cape Town.

Brief scores: South Africa 408 (Dean Elgar 185, Marco Jansen 84; Jasprit Bumrah 4/69) BEAT India 245 (KL Rahul 101; Kagiso Rabada 5/59) & 131 (Virat Kohli 76; Nandre Burger 4/33) by an innings and 32 runs.