5 talking points from first India-South Africa Test

The battle between the top two Test nations of the world kicked off with a thrilling encounter at Cape Town as South Africa beat India by 72 runs on the 4th day of the Test. Both teams had their fair share of bright moments across the three cricketing days – the 3rd day of the Test was called off due to rain. But the Proteas took complete advantage of the home conditions and took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match Test series.

India went into the series having won nine straight Test series, a joint world record, and with the desire to prove that they could finally do well outside the subcontinent. But the lack of application in those testing conditions seems to have brought back painful memories of failures in nations such as South Africa, Australia and England.

That said, we look at the five talking points that shaped the outcome of the first Test:

---

Not playing the warm-up match

In December 2017, it was announced that the two-day warm-up match scheduled for India was cancelled and they opted to have practice sessions on those days instead. Virat Kohli was quick to justify the team’s decision, citing reasons such as the apparent low quality of practice matches and the different conditions as compared to the actual Test match.

However, it’s important to note that even if it’s an inconsequential match, it’s still a lot closer to a game than a practice session, and decisions such as selecting the starting 11, tinkering with the bowler-batsman combination could be better made after analyzing a player’s performance against a Proteas domestic side.

Important lessons can now be learnt from the first Test and changes to the lineup would surely be expected for the next one.

Dropping Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane is India's best batsman overseas

Ajinkya Rahane had a tough outing against Sri Lanka, but it was still shocking to see him dropped in favour of Rohit Sharma. Rahane’s superb away form is known to all – he averages 53.44 in Tests played away from home as compared to a lowly 33.63 per innings in Tests played at home. On the other hand, Rohit has often struggled away from home. True to the stats, Rohit scored just 21 in the Test (11, 10).

Rahane is expected to slot in for the next Test and this would probably be one of two changes that Kohli makes..

Bowling Attack

The Indian bowlers were on point

This is a big, big positive for India and something that they should be really proud of. A lot has been said about the performance of Indian spinners over the years and how they have been the source of all their subcontinent wins. But once India moved outside the subcontinent, the spinners would prove ineffective, and the seam talent would struggle to take wickets more often than not.

But not anymore. The current crop had a lot of expectations on their shoulders, and they did well to live up to that. They were successful in claiming all 20 wickets, and it’s sweeter considering that the seamers got 18 of those 20. They took all 10 in the second innings, giving India a fighting chance by restricting the Proteas to 208.

Hardik Pandya

Pandya's attacking half-century steadied the ship for India

Hardik Pandya is evolving into a fabulous player. Renowned cricket commentator, Harsha Bhogle was full of praise for him as Pandya helped India recover from an abysmal 92/7 to a respectable 209 in the first innings. He coupled that 95-ball 93 with 3 wickets over the two innings as a fourth-choice bowler.

Some players make things happen. More attitude than anything else. Pandya suggests he could be that kind of player.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 6, 2018

He is still quite young but is beginning to show immense maturity on the pitch. He has been impressive ever since that innings in the Champions Trophy final and it looks like India’s hunt for a fast-bowling allrounder may have finally come to an end, at least for the next few years.

Fighting Spirit

India lost the match, but did put up a strong fight

India may have lost the Test match, but they did enough to justify their tag as the world's No.1 Test team. They proved that they are not dependent on just one cricketer. When the better batsmen struggled in the first innings, Hardik Pandya stepped up. When South Africa had a lead of 129 with 10 wickets in hand in the second innings, the bowling contingent did wonders to bowl them out for another 78 runs in a span of 26 overs. When the chase in the 4th innings went haywire, Ashwin did his bit to delay the inevitable.

This was not the complete performance that we have come to expect from this Indian Cricket Team, but they have given us enough proof that this is a team headed in the right direction.

India just need to move on from the loss and start working towards the Test that starts this Saturday.