South Africa vs India 2018: 5 reasons why India lost the Test series

#3 Faf du Plessis' captaincy and South Africa's fielding

Faf led the way for South Africa

South Africa's fielding was one of the key factors in their series win. They were brilliant in the slip cordon and in the outfield. Even their pace bowlers put in an extra effort in the field and the catch of Parthiv Patel by Morne Morkel shows their desire and hunger for a series win.

AB de Villers was sensational on the field throughout the series. His run out of Cheteshwar Pujara in the fourth innings of the second Test was simply outstanding. In the same innings, he took a blinder to dismiss the well-settled Rohit Sharma. He also took a stunner from third slip to dismiss Murali Vijay in the fourth innings of the first Test.

Faf du Plessis' captaincy deserves a special mention here. His field set to dismiss Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma in the Centurion Test was brilliant. His bowling changes were very effective and he never gave a moment of peace to the Indian batsmen.