RANCHI: On a cloudy day with the sun playing hide and seek, India captain Virat Kohli’s decision to bat first on Saturday, Day 1 of the third Test against South Africa, at JSCA International Stadium was looking like it would backfire. The hosts were struggling at 39/3 after 16 overs. Pacer Kagiso Rabada looked threatening with the ball. He’d already struck twice to remove opener Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara in the first ten overs. Kohli’s dismissal was the last thing the hosts would have wanted in that situation. And pacer Anrich Nortje made India’s worst fear a reality, setting him up beautifully to claim his first Test wicket.
The going looked difficult, given the cloudy weather forecasts. It was then Ajinkya Rahane joined Mumbai teammate Rohit Sharma in the middle. By the time play was called off six overs into the post-tea session due to rain, India were placed comfortably at 224/3 in 58 overs. Rohit was unbeaten on 117 and Rahane 17 short of a hundred. Their 185-run partnership for the fourth wicket also ensured that the hosts continued their domination.
With the century — his sixth in the longest format — Rohit also became only the second India opener after Sunil Gavaskar to slam three (or more) hundreds in a Test series.It was testing conditions for batsmen, as the wicket was aiding pacers in the morning.
Overcast conditions didn’t help India’s cause either, but Rohit and Rahane mixed caution with aggression to negotiate South Africa’s speedsters. Rabada continued to impress post lunch; a few thick edges flew through the slip cordon and raced to boundaries. However, lack of support from other end and ineffective spinners saw the two survive the tough phase and build a partnership to swing the game in India’s favour.
India batting coach Vikram Rathour was impressed with the Rohit-Rahane show, terming the recovery phenomenal. “Of course, the duo batted really well. There was a bit of moisture early on. The wicket was doing something. They also bowled in better areas, but our recovery was phenomenal. Both of them batted well and post-lunch, the wicket eased a bit. We should catch this.”
“Ajinkya showed great intend today. Whenever he bats with this intent, he looks like a really good player. As I said earlier also, they bowled in good areas initially. There was help from the wicket, so Rohit had some problems early on. As a batsman, you need to survive that time, which Rohit did really well. Anybody will look uncomfortable because those were tough conditions. But once the wicket settled down and you’re set, he batted really well.”
Earlier, after losing nine straight coin-spins in Tests played in Asia, South Africa skipper Faf Du Plessis brought in Temba Bavuma as a proxy captain for the toss. The move failed, though. India went in with one change, replacing pacer Ishant Sharma with debutant Shahbaz Nadeem. The visitors effected five, with wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen and left-arm spinner George Linde making their Test debut. The others to find place in playing XI were pacer Lungi Ngidi, middle-order batsman Zubayr Hamza and off-spinner Dane Piedt.
Rabada started the proceedings for the visitors, bowling with immaculate line and length to make life difficult for India openers. The probing spell bore fruit immediately, as he had Agarwal caught at third slip by Dean Elgar in the fifth over. While an outswinger drew the India opener forward and induced an edge, the one which nipped back had Pujara stuck in the crease with the ball hitting his back pad. Given not out by the on-field umpire, South Africa reviewed it successfully, reducing India to 16/2 in ninth over.
Scoreboard
India (1st innings): Mayank c Elgar b Rabada 10, Rohit batting 117, Pujara lbw Rabada 0, Kohli lbw Nortje 12, Rahane batting 83. Extras (b1, nb1) 2. Total (3 wkts, 58 ovs) 224. FoW: 1-12, 2-16, 3-39. Bowling: Rabada 14-5-54-2, Ngidi 11-4-36-0, Nortje 16-3-50-1, Linde 11-1-40-0, Piedt 6-0-43-0.