South Africa vs India 2018, 1st Test: What went wrong for the visitors

#1 Batsmen couldn’t adjust to South African conditions

Pandya was the only Indian batsman to score a half-century.

One of the main challenges for the Indian batsmen was going to be countering the extra bounce and lateral movement. India also cancelled the practice match and hence it was up to the Indian batsmen to make the adjustment.

But they weren’t up to the mark. They failed to adjust to the conditions and hence the top order didn’t make any impact. The one thing India would’ve been disappointed will be their shot selection.

They had a green pitch on the offer, the ball was moving around and against a world-class bowling attack which comprised Philander, Steyn, Morkel and Rabada, it was going to be tough. But most of the batsmen fell to poor shots in both innings.

In the first innings, Vijay, Pujara and Kohli chased wide deliveries and were caught behind the wicket. Dhawan looked to attack with 15-20 minutes to go for stumps. Rohit and Saha were given LBW as they couldn’t read the in-dippers. If it was not for Pandya's 93, India would've been all out for less than 150 and would have conceded a bigger lead.

In the second innings, Dhawan was bounced out, Vijay once again fished outside the off-stump. Pujara and Kohli got out to pretty good deliveries, then Rohit, Pandya and Saha fell to poor shots and they were eventually bundled out for 135.

India’s inability to play and adjust to the moving ball really cost them dear and were in trouble in both innings as the top order failed to put up anything substantial.