For a country with long memories of watching its batsmen bulldoze at quality speeds while playing overseas, image of Sachin Tendulkarin defense of being holed up an alan donald The scorer in the 1996 Boxing Day Test at Kingsmead, Durban, still hurts after the batsman hit two crunching fours through cover and point.
India had blown away by scoring 100 and 66 in their two innings within three days. Venkatesh Prasad’s brilliant 10-wicket haul was a footnote.
“Forget the rhino, save India”, shouted a banner in the hands of an emotional Protea in the stand.
As Indian fans though, we are good at finding the antidote to painful defeats. In it, the two deliveries stand out as countermeasures to Donald’s dominance.
Back to Kingsmead. Then the Boxing Day Test. The second of the series in 2010-2011. South Africa, chasing 303 for victory, were getting steady at 123 for 3, with the partnership between Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis building up. recorded S Sreesanth, Tramp and magician. He produced a delivery that sniffed from a length and saw Kallis metamorphose into a high-jumper to stop it. The ball came out of the balloons from their gloves Virender Sehwag on the dot. The hosts broke down and India leveled the series.
2018 Cut in Johannesburg, 3rd Test between India and South Africa. The number of times the physios of both the teams traveled in the middle to check on the well being of the batsman was almost more than those in the stands.
West Indies rated this pitch 2 out of 100 Michael Holding And was called “nonsense” in the commentary. Holding asked the umpires to call off the game.
India had none of these. Between Lord’s 2014 to Wanderers 2018, he had only won Tests in Asia and West Indies. They were thirsty for “blood”. Jasprit Bumrah Pinged South African opener Dean Elgar (who fired his bat in his 86 in the second innings) on the helmet. The left-hander was in awe. That delivery did the job of rocking the South African dressing room. From 124/2, South Africa were all out for 177, chasing 241 Mohammed Shami Brilliant spell of 5-28. The backbone of Kohli’s Team India had grown.
In a way, the Johannesburg Test in 2018, which India won by 63 runs, was the benchmark for the way Kohli and Shastri played overseas. In that series, they were in good shape at Cape Town and Centurion to win, but stumbled during crucial moments, as they did in England later in 2018.
Instead of staying on advantage and playing attractive cricket, he probably attacked too much, leaking runs.
South Africa has always been a tough place for Indians to visit. The pace and bounce is like Australia. But unlike Australia, they don’t attack all the time.
They knock you down with impunity, and then after you’ve flagged enough, they go in for the kill.
Many believe that the Indian team currently touring South Africa has the best chance of winning the Final Frontier. South Africa is one place where India have not won a series. They came close in 2010–2011 when they drew 1–1 and were in a winning position at Cape Town in the third Test, but MS Dhoni’s unimaginable captaincy allowed the hosts to get away.
No Indian captain has invested in pace and aggression like Kohli. From the Johannesburg Test in 2018, the following personnel are missing in South Africa – Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel.
India still have the core of the team that competed in 2018 and despite a poor middle-order, the bowling arsenal is not just penetrating, but disappointing and doing a good job of catching up.
When the ball stops swinging, Indian bowlers have the mind to bowl stump to stump with two mid-wickets, one square leg, just two slips and a ring field on the off-side and wait for the breakthrough and Then go for chewing.
Apart from Omicron, South Africa has been devastated by racism scandals and an exodus of quality cricketers taking up Kolpak deals in search of a better life in the UK or New Zealand.
cricketers of stature Sunil Gavaskar, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Karthik and Harbhajan Singh feel this is India’s best chance of winning in South Africa.
South African captain Elgar, however, fired the first warning shot. “I would rather be in my dressing room than India knowing they have to face our bowlers.”
Over to Kohli for reply.
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