India vs South Africa: India grind out not-so-perfect win in quickest Test in Cape Town

Despite their wait for a series victory in South Africa never seeming to end, Team India had the last laugh in the second Test in Cape Town on Thursday. It wasn’t far from perfect, but that win wasn’t perfect either. Given the manner in which South Africa folded out for 55 in the first innings after opting to bat first (A decision which was in itself questionable), not many would have foreshadowed India’s dramatic collapse for a meagre 153. More than the bowlers, it was the batters whose performance was under question. IND vs SA:  Team India win shortest Test match with historic feat in Cape Town and more stats And rightly so. While Rohit Sharma (39) and Shubman Gill (36) had forged a 55-run stand for the second wicket in India’s first innings, none of the batters barring Virat Kohli (46) were able to capitalise on that stand. There were talks of “pace and bounce” becoming a factor ahead of this Test, and it did seem like the visitors came underprepared with the bat for this Test. KL Rahul was victim of a loose shot he played, and was undone by the extra bounce against Kagiso Rabada, Shreyas Iyer looked a shadow of himself and Ravindra Jadeja too fell victim to the extra bounce against Lungi Nigidi. There was chaos in that middle order, utter chaos. Nandre Burger’s length balls dismissed Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, and early on in the innings, he had decimated Rohit Sharma with some extra bounce. Kagiso Rabada, too, managed to get Kohli and Prasidh Krishna to wrap up the Indian innings, but those dismissals were sandwiched between a chaotic run-out involving Siraj and Prasidh, wherein the former was a victim of miscommunication between the two to be run-out at the non-strikers’ end. Fast forward 24 hours later, the way India got dismissed was a thing of the past. In a sport like cricket, a certain incident that made the headlines one day can be easily forgotten the next day. On Thursday, Team India looked to move on from that batting nightmare where they lost six wickets for no runs at all. Wickets kept tumbling early on the in the first session on Thursday, although not in the same intensity as a day prior. At one stage, the Proteas on Thursday found themselves in a similar position to that of India. They found themselves at 103/6 following the dismissal of Marco Jansen, but needed something special. And special it was, from Aiden Markram. Markram showcased why he could be the cornerstone of South Africa’s batting in the Proteas’ post-Elgar era, and it’s his resilience and willingness to go that extra mile that helped him put on a brilliant display. In fact, it’s a pity that there was hardly anyone who could support him, because that knock from Markram would have otherwise gone a long way in potentially reviving South Africa’s hopes. He only found support from Rabada, when the two forged a 51-run stand for the eighth wicket. Markram did most of the talking with the bat, whereas Rabada played the role of a moral supporter.

Congratulations to #TeamIndia for levelling the series!
Markram’s approach was fantastic because sometimes attack is the best form of defence on a pitch like this.
Well bowled by Bumrah, who showed us exactly, how bowling in the channel consistently is all that’s required on such… pic.twitter.com/e1HDLq0IgR

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 4, 2024

Both of Markram’s maximums in his 103-ball knock came against the inexperienced Prasidh Krishna. Prasidh himself looked clueless with the ball for most of the duration of the Test match, and for the first maximum, Markram went over square leg with a pull shot off Prasidh’s short ball. Two balls later, Prasidh attempted the full length ball outside off, which allowed Markram to put his front foot and thump over long-on. The game was, however, once again in India’s hands after Markram was dismissed by Siraj in the 32nd over, and it was a matter of time before the hosts were bundled out. Siraj’s six-star spell One of the major takeaways from the game was Mohammed Siraj. While six years back in Newlands in 2018, it was Jasprit Bumrah who announced his arrival to the Test arena, this time, it was Siraj. Only that Siraj had already made his Test debut before. But, if it was anything, it was about Siraj scaling new heights. Siraj has established himself as one of India’s three frontline pacers along with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in limited-overs cricket, but this time, in Cape Town, it was about establishing himself as a reliable all-format pacer. Someone who can adapt to certain conditions.

Taking back special memories from Cape Town 🇮🇳🙏 pic.twitter.com/xBM5uBu860

— Mohammed Siraj (@mdsirajofficial) January 4, 2024

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While there’s Bumrah who can adapt to conditions whatsoever, Siraj, after enduring figures of 2/91 in Centurion, instilled confidence in himself and worked on those hard lengths to come good in Cape Town. And his practice of doing so worked wonders in the first innings. He consistently hit those hard lengths, making it difficult for batters to read his lengths and more importantly, struck at regular intervals. Siraj would finish with figures of 6/15 in the first innings, and not once, but twice the Hyderabad pacer would get Markram in the contest. And once Markram was caught by Rohit at long off on Thursday, that was the third time in as many innings that Siraj had got the 29-year-old out. That would be his only wicket in the second innings but there would have been nothing better than to cap off the series with something scintillating like this. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s struggles So much for being known as the aggressive cricketer he is in T20Is, Yashasvi Jaiswal has endured a rather underwhelming outing in South Africa. A few months back, India’s series in West Indies was a different story, but facing South Africa in South Africa would become a humongous challenge altogether. Jaiswal was dismissed in Centurion after playing a loose shot in the first innings and followed it up with an underwhelming display in the second when he was dismissed for 5.

The best way to begin a chase on a tricky wicket?
Thump a pull for 4️⃣#YashasviJaiswal gets off to the best possible start in this chase of 79.

Tune in to #SAvIND 2nd Test
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/p4pOl2dzL5

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 4, 2024

In the first innings of the second Test, Jaiswal was undone by the extra bounce from Kagiso Rabada, enduring a seven-ball duck. The one knock that he did play aggressively was in India’s run chase. He played with full freedom, as though he was playing T20 cricket. Jaiswal would go on to collect two boundaries off Rabada in the first over, before drilling over cover for a four off Nandre Burger. And while his boundaries came in fluently, it was the way he was dismissed that caught the eye. It was a short ball from Burger and while looking to go for the pull, Jaiswal lost balance and holed it towards Tristan Stubbs at deep backward square leg. Jaiswal’s inconsistencies and struggles bring into question whether India should promote Gill to the opener’s spot with Rohit once again. Gill has played more matches as an opener than at number three, and it isn’t surprising enough to see that he averages more (32.37) as an opener than he bats at number three (23.71).

🔝 shot!#ShubmanGill gets a move on with a glorious boundary straight down the ground.#TeamIndia racing towards a win.

Tune in to #SAvIND 2nd Test
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/IiLLsWIU1x

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 4, 2024

While Jaiswal does boast an average of above 45, he hasn’t been tested enough against major opposition, which is another reason why Gill should have opened along with Rohit in South Africa. After all, the Rohit-Gill have enjoyed productive opening stands in limited-overs cricket, so there’s no reason why the two can’t enjoy a formidable partnership in Tests. India have England next in Tests at home in January, and maybe this way the team management would get more time to assess Jaiswal’s performance as an opener in Tests and how he can tackle pacers in challenging conditions. Only time will tell how Jaiswal could establish himself as a potentially permanent Test opener.