South Africa vs India 2013: 1st Test, Day 2 - Heroes of the day

3. Graeme Smith

He played a captain’s knock today, scoring a stylish 68 which included 11 boundaries. Though he was hit on the right knee by a ball that took the inside edge of the bat early on, he was not affected by it at all and played some nice shots to upset the Indian bowling.

His partnership with Amla looked like it would squander all of India’s chances, before they recovered and got some wickets. Smith got out leg before to Zaheer Khan, this being the 14th instance in international cricket he has got out to the bowler.

He looked confident while he batted which was not surprising since he got a double hundred in the last Test match he played, which was in October against Pakistan. His decision to put India in to bat did pay off well, but now he has to ensure that the opposition doesn’t get away the next time they bat, which can hurt South Africa’s chances of winning the game.

He will have to use his bowlers well and will also have to implement a good strategy to stop Pujara and Kohli who look in fine touch.