Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati
For two-and-a-half sessions on Day 4 of the second Test here in Guwahati, the game meandered along. It tested everyone’s patience. South Africa were under no compulsion to add spice to the proceedings. They were happy to pile misery on India, who were just going through the motions.
Eventually, 41 minutes after lunch, when the tourists declared on 260/5 in their second innings, their lead swelled to 548. India will have to score 549 to square the series. They finished the day on 27/2, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul back in the hut. India stare at another home series whitewash in a little over 12 months. The Proteas are on the cusp of their first series win in this part of the world in 25 years.
Very rarely did India look so clueless in a home Test. Even the whitewash suffered against New Zealand last year wasn’t this demoralising. In that three-match series, India had scored in excess of 400 in their second innings in the first Test in Bangalore after getting bundled out for 46 in the first dig. In the next two Tests, in Pune and Mumbai, the hosts went down because they lost key moments. In this Test, India were never in the game, except for the first day, when they had taken six wickets.
How has it come to this? “There are a lot of youngsters in this dressing room. There’s not much experience in batting from top to bottom,” head coach Gautam Gambhir had said after the defeat in Kolkata. It wasn’t a subversion of facts. India’s No. 3 and No. 4 for the Guwahati Test, Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel, have just one century and less than 1,000 runs between them. Then again, as Cheteshwar Pujara opined, transition can’t be an excuse in home series.
In 2011-12, after suffering back-to-back whitewashes in England and Australia, India went through a bigger transition. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the two titans, called time on their careers. Virender Sehwag lost his place in the team and Sachin Tendulkar’s glorious journey was sauntering towards a golden sunset. And yet, India hammered Australia at home. Shikhar Dhawan scored a scintillating 174-ball 187 on his Test debut. A young Virat Kohli was ready to stand up to be counted. Pujara seamlessly fitted into Dravid’s position.
India are moving on from Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami now, and the cupboard looks bare. Between the lines, Gambhir had questioned the technique and temperament of the players, and also their ability to handle pressure after the Kolkata Test. The problem is that the head coach is not covering himself in glory either. His ploy of incorporating the T20 template into Tests — picking the so-called multi-skilled (read, bits and pieces) players at the expense of the specialists — has fallen flat on its face. The ever-changing batting order of some players, Washington Sundar for example, has been creating uncertainty.
As far as the selectors are concerned, they need to question themselves if they are picking the right players for this format. Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled just 10 overs in this game playing as an all-rounder, and it was pretty evident that stand-in captain Rishabh Pant didn’t have much faith in him. As regards his batting, in the first innings, Reddy perished fending at a Marco Jansen bouncer on a benign pitch.
Coming back to this Test. Jaiswal got out playing a shot against Jansen which he could have avoided. Rahul was bowled through the gate by Simon Harmer. Sai had a close shave, as he survived on umpire’s call.
Earlier, Tristan Stubbs missed his hundred by only six runs in South Africa’s second innings. Jadeja returned with 4/62 — arguably the most pointless four wickets he has taken in his illustrious Test career.
Brief scores: South Africa 489 & 260/5 declared (Tristan Stubbs 94, Ravindra Jadeja 4/62). India 201 & 27/2.
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