India have finished day-one of the second Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in a dominant position. Virat Kohli took a calculative risk by opting to field first after winning the toss. Perhaps, the slightly overcast conditions, the fact that the pitch was under cover for a while due to the rains in the last few days might have led to his decision.
It could also have been because the South Africans were shell-shocked after the defeat at Mohali, barely crossing a 100 runs in the second innings. Maybe it was a ploy to not let them recover from that debacle and give them a chance to see what the pitch was doing if India batted first. And it worked like a charm.
It worked because the South Africans, apart from, perhaps, AB de Villiers, do not have much experience playing on Indian pitches. Hashim Amla was in tremendous form on his previous tour here but this time he has been struggling. His footwork is not the same it was the last time around and he looks tentative. Today, he got out to a beautiful delivery from Varun Aaron.
But again, it was R Ashwin, who got India the breakthroughs. He got opener, Stiaan van Zyl out lbw, who again showed very static footwork, not going to the pitch of the ball. And then, Faf du Plessis. What was he doing, trying to get down the pitch off the second ball he was facing? He got out for 0 and 1 in the first Test. When you are out of form, you try and stay at the crease and not counter attack straight away. He was caught superbly by Cheteshwar Pujara at forward short-leg and those two overs from Ashwin dragged South Africa back.
Thereafter, wickets fell at very regular intervals, with Ravindra Jadeja getting into the act as well. Ashwin and Jadeja, picking four wickets, never allowed South Africa to settle down.
But no praise can be too high for AB de Villiers and the way he batted. He is playing his 100th Test match and so there would have been just that little bit additional pressure. But he didn’t let that curb it at all. His footwork was certain when he went down the pitch to the spinners and when he used the depth of the crease to play the cut or the pull shot. And when he played the quicker bowlers he was absolutely right on the top of the ball. It was a terrific display of batting and it is a pity that he missed out on a hundred. From the Indian point of view, getting AB out meant that the tail could be exposed and they could run through it very easily.
South Africa need to get early wickets tomorrow because India have got off to a very good start. Shikhar Dhawan – there might have been just a little bit of anxiety in the Indian dressing room to see how he begins. But once he began fluently and started middling the ball, there was no problems or alarms. India have begun well and they would look to take a big lead so that they don’t have to bat fourth in this match. Take a big lead and try to beat South Africa by an innings: that is what India will look to do.
