CHENNAI: Thursday will be a world of different opportunities for both India and South Africa. For the visitors, it's a question of whether they can take the eight more wickets they need to win a first Test series in a country where they have never won. For the hosts, in the middle of rediscovering themselves after the retirements of several stalwarts, it's a question of whether they can hit 122 more runs needed to level the series with one more Test to go. Needing 240 to win on an increasingly up and down Wanderers surface, they were 118/2 at stumps on the end of Day Three.
On Wednesday, both teams found different heroes when the match was calling out for a few individuals to put their hands up. For the visitors, it was the beleaguered pair of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane followed by Hanuma Vihari, the man who will likely replace one of those two in the line-up if and when such a situation occurs.
The morning began with the bowlers searching for wickets. In their desperation, they erred in line and length and lost their discipline. Pujara and Rahane did not need a second invitation. They went after anything that wasn't on the money. Half-volleys, overpitched deliveries, balls short and wide outside off stump… all of them disappeared either along the carpet or over the infield. The pair combined to score 11 boundaries and a six in the first hour to put the visitors in command.
What caught the eye — pardon the cliche — was their attitude. Given the context of the match and the noise surrounding their careers going forward, it was fire and brimstone stuff from the duo during their 111-run third-wicket stand. It was a courageous display of guts — something both batters haven't shown enough of in recent Tests — with their careers on the line. What changed from their earlier displays? A conviction in completely going through with the shot, going after the right deliveries and some luck in not nicking when the good balls came around.
Most of the good stuff was delivered by Kagiso Rabada who broke open the match with the wickets of Pujara, Rahane and Rishabh Pant in a thrilling three-over burst before lunch. After that, it was Vihari who played two roles: holding one end up as well as farming the strike and taking calculated risks with the tail. His unbeaten 40 was, in the end, the difference between a target of 200 and 240.
The No 5 was perhaps the best Indian batter on show on Wednesday. He was so unhurried defending balls that kicked off the surface. He knew where his off stump was and was so sure of what he was doing. It was almost like a throwback to his heroic fourth innings display at Sydney.
Elgar key
When the match resumes on Thursday — the forecasted thunderstorms throughout will only add to the drama — one man's wicket could well decide the outcome. Skipper Dean Elgar, by the time stumps were called, had already taken several hits to the shoulder.
In between his gritty 46, Aiden Markram's stroke-filled 31 and Keegan Petersen’s 28 set the ball rolling for the hosts. The visiting bowlers were also slightly wayward in the initial exchanges and that allowed them (40 of the 57 runs scored by them were boundaries) to take advantage. By the time the shadows lengthened, though, India had course corrected. They will also be warmed by Ravichandran Ashwin finding the turn off the surface. In fact, he became the first spinner to take a wicket here since 2019 when he caught Petersen in front.
The question when Thursday dawns will be pretty simple. Who will grasp this opportunity that they have earned?