First Test: India suffer same old pace demons against Proteas

CAPE TOWN: It is hard to even put in words the flows and ebbs that Newlands witnessed on Friday. There has been a lot of anticipation and excitement building up in the days leading up to the first Test, having seen pre-dominantly one-sided contests in recent months. This was supposed to be India’s path-breaking series. But one day into the tour, they showed what they are capable of and what was feared about them.

Having arrived in South Africa with what is possibly their best squad in terms of balance between bat and ball and the mix of bowling arsenal, India’s attack, actually did the job, but it was far from perfection. After Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India a dream start, where he picked the wickets of Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram and Hashim Amla in his first three overs to leave South Africa tottering at 12-3, they allowed the hosts to get back into the game by being over aggressive at times.

Virat Kohli, despite his penchant for wickets ahead of containing, has shown in India that he doesn’t like giving away boundaries. It is because of this reason that you often found a long-on or mid-wicket when spinners were having a go. You expected the same here in Cape Town, but probably Kohli was more intent on sending a message or two, and operated with attacking fields, leaving open space for AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis to find boundaries. Maybe, he was too confident of his bowlers, and why not, as the first hour was among the most most riveting one has seen in a long time. The moisture on the surface, perhaps, had a role to play too, but this is where India got carried away.

One of the characteristics of this Indian team has been their ability to find the right balance despite the constant change in the playing XI. It has always been seen as a happy headache — spoiled for choice — was what they boasted about. But it let India down on more than one occasion on Friday. With De Villiers launching a stunning counter-attack on Bhuvneshwar, Kohli had to look at debutant Jasprit Bumrah.

But it was always going to be a hard task for Bumrah against a batsman who was looking to play aggressively and the other — Du Plessis — who was playing the waiting game. India needed a bowler like Ishant Sharma, one who could bowl long spells and giving nothing away. But having opted for a strike-bowler, they paid the price as the hosts scored at nearly four an over.

Though the bowlers did restrict South Africa eventually to 286, one couldn’t help but wonder how less it could have been had they picked their attack with a mix of caution and attack. In Hardik Pandya, India do have an inexperienced customer, and having two for the opening Test, looked too much.

“That’s how Test cricket is. We started really well and lost our way in between. We could have bowled a little better, but we gave away 25-30 runs extra. You expect that against South Africa. I knew it doesn’t swing too much in South Africa so I bowled in the right areas and tried to get them caught behind. Every batsman is vulnerable outside off. De Villiers’ counter-attack hurt us. It’s going to be tough. We knew this is a kind of situation we’d have to tackle,” Bhuvneshwar said.

If the bowling lived up to its pre-series billing, then the batsmen played like what was feared. Murali Vijay, to control the movement of Vernon Philander, adjusted his guard to off-stump. He chased a wide one and edged it to gully. Then over to the player whose selection left everyone puzzled. Since arriving here, Shikhar Dhawan has had only one practice session as he was nursing a foot-injury. KL Rahul was touted to be Vijay’s opening partner, but instead the reverse happened.

And if there are still doubts over who is the best bet to open with Vijay, Dhawan showed them. Having lost Vijay early, India needed Dhawan to play it safe. With Dale Steyn cramping him for room with a short delivery, he went for a pull only for the top-edge to be pouched by the bowler. Morne Morkel removed Kohli soon after as India, having began so well, find themselves in a hole to come out of on Saturday.

venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com