10-man South Africa ruthlessly expose India's limitations in Centurion

Who would have thought that literally the brightest day of the week in Centurion would figuratively become the darkest for the No. 1-ranked Test side in the world?

India were behind the eight-ball, but only just, when they headed to SuperSport Park for day three of the first Test against South Africa. The middle day is considered the moving day, the events of which generally influence its outcome. This time, the middle day became the final day as India capitulated without a fight, conceding an innings-and-32-run defeat to what was essentially a 10-man home side.

Temba Bavuma, the South African captain, suffered a left hamstring strain on the first afternoon, an injury that has ended his participation in the series. Even without their skipper, South Africa were too strong in familiar, helpful conditions, ruthlessly exposing the limitations of Rohit Sharma’s men in a land where India have been reasonably competitive for the last 17 years and five tours.

India dole out freebies

India’s quest for a maiden Test series win in South Africa will have to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. They can, at best, salvage a drawn series if they can somehow pull up their socks and roar back next week in Cape Town, where they have yet to win a Test.

There were reasons enough to be optimistic of India’s chances heading into the first Test. On their last tour in 2021, India had surged to an impressive win in Centurion; since then, they had held England to a 2-2 draw in the latter’s backyard and come a long way as a Test unit. They possessed all the ingredients that go into the making of a successful team outside the subcontinent – a set of high-class batsmen, and a pace attack helmed by Jasprit Bumrah capable of taking 20 wickets. But it’s one thing having the resources, it’s quite another for all of them to pull in the same direction.

Centurion has been cold and bleak and dismal for the last few days, but Thursday dawned bright and beautiful, not a cloud in sight. India’s batsmen generally flourish when the sun beats down on their backs, but not this time. If it was Kagiso Rabada who had done the damage in the first innings, tall left-arm quicks Marco Jansen and debutant Nandre Burger were the heroes of Thursday’s decimation, sharing seven wickets.

In the space of 34.1 overs, India were blasted out for 131. More accurately, India doled out freebies, South Africa needing only to be disciplined and consistent because the vaunted batting line-up was in a ‘giving’ mood.

Bowlers, barring Bumrah, disappoint

KL Rahul’s outstanding century in his maiden outing as a Test wicketkeeper-batsman had helped paper over the cracks in the first innings, when India mustered a respectable 245. In demanding conditions – overhead assistance, lateral movement and spongy bounce – that total was a good one if the bowlers bowled well. But that turned out to be a big ‘if’ because apart from Bumrah, the rest were disappointing.

Mohammed Siraj had his moments, true, but the same can’t be said of Shardul Thakur or Prasidh Krishna, the strapping debutant. Whatever pressure had been created with the new ball by Bumrah and Siraj was released by the back-up quicks, who were picked off with nonchalance by Dean Elgar, in his final series before calling time on his international career. Elgar, who will lead the team in the second Test in Bavuma’s absence, is essentially a grafter but he was so taken in by the easy pickings that he breezed to 185, with 28 fours, in an electric display of shot-making.

Elgar’s masterpiece was the cornerstone of South Africa’s 408. That’s a huge total anywhere, but given the conditions in Centurion, it might as well have been 600. Rohit was merely stating the obvious when he said this wasn’t a ‘400 wicket’. Once India had fallen so far behind in the first innings, there could only be one outcome.

Indian batters' recklessness

A deficit of 163 is hard to bounce back from, but there still was plenty to play for India’s batsmen. Personal pride, for one thing. The confidence of runs under their best heading to Newlands. A statement of intent to South Africa that they just wouldn’t roll over and surrender, that their averages aren’t inflated, that they aren’t just hype but full of substance too. Unfortunately, they failed to tick even a single box. Barring Virat Kohli, whose entertaining 76 meant nothing in the final analysis, there was nothing to write home about. While the lack of runs was disappointing, what was disturbing was the manners of dismissal.

With total disregard for the game situation and the conditions, strokes were played with abandon, impunity, recklessness even. There is a very thin line between being carefree and careless. If they are honest to themselves, a majority of India’s batsmen will concede that they got themselves out rather than falling to the quality of the bowling that confronted them.

What will worry Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid the most is that India didn’t seem to have paid much attention to how South Africa constructed their bowling and batting innings. Where the pacers, Bumrah excepted, were profligate – they either pitched the ball too full in looking for seam or too short in the quest for bounce when merely sticking to the channel outside off at just back of a length would have worked wonders – the batsmen were in an unseemly hurry to tick off boundaries without getting their eye in. Admittedly, this was the sort of track where one could never ever feel settled or ‘in’, as they say, but chancing their arm and trying to hit through the line when the ball was jagging around without using the feet and relying merely on hands was an invitation to disaster.

Big task ahead

More than the technical shortcomings, India were beaten in the mind, it seemed, when they took the field on the third day. Their body language was lackadaisical and they were content for things to happen rather than trying to make them happen. Not good signs these, not at all. Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid have quite a task ahead of them in the next few days if Cape Town isn’t to be a washout, too.

Speaking of, the heavens opened up some 30 minutes after the last Indian wicket had fallen. Perhaps another reminder of the value of patience that might have dragged this game to another day. And maybe even beyond.