The second Test in Bengaluru turned out to be a complete dampener with only 81 overs being bowled in the entire match. In those 81 overs, all on the first day, India were the dominators. After skittling South Africa out for 214, they solidified their position with an 81-run opening stand between M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan.
When the Test was called off on the fifth day due to persistent wet weather, Virat Kohli was understandably disappointed to miss out on a chance to further their dominance over the Proteas.
“It was very disappointing. Especially the second and the third days were very frustrating because we had a very good first day,” Virat said. “The toughest task is to set up a Test match and then you can go on to win those important moments. We were on course to do that and had a chance to put more pressure on South Africa. It is annoying for any side to come to the ground and then there is no play, and for us it was more so, given that we had a very good first day.”
However, the Indian captain praised his team for not letting the weather dampen their spirits. He said the team maintained a positive attitude throughout the four washed-out days, and were ready to take the field at any given opportunity.
“Momentum wise, I didn’t see any difference. The mood is absolutely the same as it was in Mohali,” Virat said. “And we carried it forward into this Test. We had a positive first day; we bowled the No. 1 Test side out inside three sessions on a decent batting wicket with no demons in it. We batted really well too. We have been in a very good space and have maintained that over the last four days. We haven’t thought about what the weather would be like. Thinking about these things can put you off and the team hasn’t done that. I would like to give them credit for that.
“Even if we had the fourth and the fifth day, we were still looking to bat one whole day and then put South Africa under pressure on the last day. I am not saying we would have certainly bowled them out, but we were looking to build the pressure.”
A very big positive that India can take from the first day of this Test match was Dhawan getting some runs under his belt. He had raced to 45 off 62 balls before the stumps were drawn. Coming off a pair in Mohali, these runs would have come as a massive confidence boost for the Indian opener. While Virat was delighted to see Dhawan get back among runs, he refuted the claims that he was out of form before this Test.
“If you call scoring two centuries in three Test matches struggling, I don’t know what being in form is,” Virat defended his team-mate. “He scored a century in Bangladesh and then in Galle. Unfortunately he got injured and after that played in first Test in Mohali. So, let’s not be too harsh on someone just because of two innings.
“We have to be patient with someone like Shikhar because he is an impact player and we need to give him as much confidence as we can. When he gets going he will win you the game for sure. I don’t think he is out of form; he is batting beautifully. Getting some runs here was good for his own mental makeup. We don’t see any issue with his batting or confidence.”
