It’s not often that India leads 1-0 on a tough overseas task like South Africa.
It is rare that, when India lead 1-0, they are well positioned to deliver a knockout blow and seal the three-Test series before the last one arrives.
Virat Kohli’s biggest strength has been his faith. Kohli’s ability to support himself, and the playing XI he has picked, has ensured that India have been able to move past some difficult situations and win a few Test matches when they had no business doing so.
At Wanderers in Johannesburg, another aspect of Kohli’s leadership will be valuable: going for the juggler.
India were aided and provoked by a number of factors in the first Test, where they ransacked the Centurion Fort.
Kohli won a crucial toss and his batsmen responded brilliantly by scoring 272 for 3 at the end of the first day.
South Africa’s fast bowlers were certainly underpowered, and this was not entirely surprising, considering how little lengthy cricket they had played in the lead-up to the Tests.
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The Centurion match was South Africa’s first match in the new World Test Championship cycle and, in contrast, it was India’s seventh match.
But it will be of no use when the second Test starts.
The likes of Lungi Ngidi – who took 8 for 108 – and Kagiso Rabada improved rapidly as they got overs under their belt and the first Test came to an end.
Debutant Marko Janssen was nervous, but he also finished strongly.
And, South Africa will certainly draft in Duane Olivier, who could not make it to the first Test as he recently recovered from a bout of Covid. Olivier has taken 24 wickets in his last three first-class matches at an average of just 11.25.
All of this adds more to the fight for South Africa.
And there will be fight.
Remember, India have never lost at the Wanderers, winning twice and drawing thrice. Exactly why this ground inspired India, even their coach Rahul Dravid could not say. And he scored his maiden century at this ground and scored 86 runs in the second innings of a Test India could have won if rain had not interfered.
“It’s a tough one. I think we’ve done well ever since I’ve played here. For some reason, the boys have always enjoyed playing at Wanderers. Whereas, I think, at Wanderers ‘It’s a fast pitch, but the bounce may not be as high as, say, Centurion has been in the past, but it’s just a weird one,’ Dravid said.
“Maybe this city, off the ground, is familiar. For some reason, we have always done well. It is hard to figure out why and I hope we can continue to do this.”
Whatever history may say, India cannot hope to win, and luckily, this is something the players are fully aware of.
As soon as the first Test victory was achieved, many players told Dravid that going 1-0 up is a double-edged sword.
“The boys themselves have told me that, in the past, when they went 1-0 up, they didn’t respond as much as they would have liked in the next one. I think it’s nice if these conversations started with the boys. Because it becomes easier from a coaching perspective,” Dravid said. “It is front and center of their mind that they want to respond well and they don’t want the ups and downs that have happened in the past. “
India have many avenues they can go down when it comes to selection.
The easiest would be to retain the XI that won the first Test.
If Kohli wants to continue with the five specialist bowlers, an easy change is to bring in extra pace from Umesh Yadav or extra height from Ishant Sharma in place of Shardul Thakur.
Bringing in Hanuma Vihari in place of R Ashwin would be another revolutionary step to strengthen the batting and keep the four fast bowlers in the game.
India vs South Africa: full coverage , photos , the schedule , result
If that happens, it will represent a dramatic change in thinking for Kohli.
In the past, when he has made big changes, either after winning a match or losing one, he has always had to be more aggressive. To that end, it would be a defensive move, quickening the batting and opting to take a real wicket out of the mix.
This Indian team knows what they want to do, how they want to do it and with what combination they give themselves the best opportunity to do it.
And Kohli is moving towards this certainty.
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