India could look to ABD and Amla’s defiance in Delhi 2015 for inspiration despite facing impending doom

December 7, 2015, Delhi. India versus South Africa. India know they cannot lose the series. They also know they have a mountain of runs to defend. South Africa cannot get those. Even if the track is not as treacherous for batting as some of the others dished out previously in the series. But South Africa are aware of the possibility of restoring pride. Not by winning, but by denying India.

And so, day five begins. The Proteas, having already staved off India’s threat for 72 overs on day four, adopt the exact same modus operandi. Usual flamboyance is sacrificed for doggedness, and the process of scoring runs is replaced by batting time. Even though there seems to be less than a one percent chance of South Africa surviving the full day.

AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, two batters with enviable white-ball records, are at the forefront. They defend, and defend, and defend. And then they defend some more. Each ball feels like an event. Not because the Proteas are doing something different each time. But because of how much application and energy they are putting into this rear-guard action, which will, for the sheer audacity of it all, go down in the annals of history, irrespective of how the game finishes.

In the end, it is just a little too much for South Africa. They get bowled out after tea, having batted for 143.1 overs and having scored just 143. They lose that game and that series, and their era of dominance begins to fade away, just as India’s begins taking shape.

The shoe’s on the other foot a decade later

Fast forward ten years, and the circumstances seem eerily similar. South Africa are not in that situation. But India are. Facing what feels like impending doom. Knowing they cannot win the series, and knowing that what they will attempt to do on day five in Guwahati, like South Africa tried to in Delhi, falls very much into the improbable category.

But the thing about sport is that even in such situations, which reek of hopelessness, and which resemble a dark tunnel where the only source of light is another incoming train, there is no option to quit. Even if every sinew, bone and muscle in the body is pleading for it. And given how India have been struggling at home lately, they might view this as an opportunity to take the first step on the path to redemption.

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That will, of course, not be easy. India, across four days, have spent 229.4 overs in the field. Out of 313.3 overs bowled overall. And during that time, India have had to indulge in a lot of leather-chasing. Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen put them to the sword in the first innings, with Tristan Stubbs grinding his way to 94 on Tuesday .

The fatigue, when in the field, began to show. India, as the Proteas were hunting a declaration, looked exhausted, giving off the vibe that they wanted to be anywhere but in Guwahati. And that spilled over into their batting innings too.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, a fierce exponent of the square-cut, was just a tad late on his stroke. It was not down to the pitch doing anything unexpected, or Jansen surprising him. It was just a case of Jaiswal being a split second late in his decision-making, and in international cricket and against high-class bowlers, that often proves terminal.

KL Rahul’s dismissal was also soft. Credit must be given to Simon Harmer for how he got the ball to drift away from Rahul, got it to pitch in the rough, and then rip past the inside edge and into the stumps. But Rahul did leave a big gap between bat and pad, trying to work the ball into the on side from well outside off. This is not to say that Harmer would not have induced that mistake had Rahul been fresher. But Rahul would likely have been able to solve that quandary better.

That, in a nutshell, is what India will need to guard against on day five. Kuldeep Yadav and Sai Sudharsan finished the day, but neither looked entirely comfortable at the crease. Sudharsan survived a close lbw shout late and his tendency to stay back to relatively full deliveries could come unstuck, especially if Harmer and Keshav Maharaj can get the ball to skid off the surface.

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Kuldeep, sent in as a night-watcher, spent more time than any other Indian batter in the first innings but is, bluntly put, a lower-order batter, meaning the likes of Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar – all of who boast an incredible range of stroke-play otherwise, will have to buckle down and curb those instincts. And they might have to lock those strokes away throughout the day. Although there exists no guarantee that that would secure India a draw.

Ploughing through when all seems futile

One of the more difficult gigs in sport, anyway, is to plough through, especially when that venture feels futile, and when the reward you have initially signed up for, is no longer up for grabs. Everything then just feels that touch more tedious. A bit more arduous. A little more cumbersome. And India will be feeling every bit of that on Wednesday.

They know this series has passed them by. They know that the tag of invincibility that often gave them extra powers in home matches, has been shed, and that they, by virtue of what has happened in the past year, no longer command the respect that they did, let’s say, in 2015.

But there is precedent. Of having seen a team give it their all in trying to save a Test that would otherwise be deemed un-save-able. It did not quite pan out that way for South Africa ten years ago in terms of the result, but it was the effort that counted. That extra effort to just stick at it, to restore whatever pride could be restored and to show to their fans and perhaps even themselves that if they truly put their mind to something, they can still accomplish what they set out to do.

The pitch, if it is any solace, is not as tricky and does not house as many demons as Kolkata either. The demons, if anything, are hiding inside India’s head. In a dark place. Where it is not advisable to come close, and from whom India can also not hide. And at some point, India will have to look them in the eye and slay them, which could happen if they save this Test. Albeit only to a very slight extent.

It is not much. Of course it isn’t. This is India that is being talked about. Runners-up in two out of three World Test Championship cycles, and often indomitable at home. And it will only give them four points. As opposed to the 24 they would have had designs for a fortnight ago.

But as India’s era of dominance threatens to fade away, and South Africa’s promises to gain further prominence, that might just be enough from an Indian perspective. For the time being. Because it will be a start.

And because it will, after all, still yield a 16.66 percent share of the points from the series, as opposed to zero. Not to mention it will still be four points more than what India are currently staring at.