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Virat Kohli in action on Day 3 of the third Test. (AP)
On a Wanderers wicket that got worse with each passing delivery, finally forcing play to stop early after a Jasprit Bumrah bouncer hit Dean Elgar on the head, earlier Kohli and Rahane stitched a 34-run partnership that not just changed the complexion of the game, but also proved that this Indian team can no longer be called flat-track bullies. In fact, former English skipper Naseer Hussain went on to tweet that next time one calls Kohli’s boys by that name, they should be reminded of this Test match.
Two things I will say about this test .. if anyone ever calls this Indian batting line up flat track bullies again they need to be reminded of the skill and bravery they have shown in this innings ..
— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) January 26, 2018
Interestingly, it was a hit on home team opener Elgar that forced the umpires to discuss the option of abandoning the game on grounds of player's safety. ICC match referee Andy Pycroft did discuss the concern raised by umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould with the two team captains before it was decided that play will start as usual on Day 4 at the Bull Ring.
But Rahane felt that the conditions were similar for both teams and there was no reason to stop play as the Indians had survived on the very wicket by taking a few blows on the body. "You cannot call it a dangerous wicket. When Hashim Amla got 60-odd in the first innings, no one was talking about that. Everyone was talking about his innings, and how he played. Unfortunately, Dean Elgar got hit on his head, and I hope he's fine. But I don't think the wicket is too dangerous.
“I think the ball was back of a length, a hard length. Slightly more bounce than usual, but if you see the wicket and see the bounce here, it was completely natural. Even when Bhuvneshwar and I were batting, or Vijay was batting against the new ball, we faced the same. It is not dangerous, it is completely similar for both teams," Rahane said.
Coming back to the two Men in Blue, Kohli has time and again said that raising questions about the wickets on offer was not how this Indian team operates and the captain’s gritty knock on a minefield even as balls almost turned square at 140kph -- after hitting the cracks -- showed that he has the game to back his claim. In fact, the ball from Kagiso Rabada that finally broke through his defence was another one that cut in viciously after pitching. In between, he was hit on the gloves a couple of times and quite a few shot up from the goodlength area. But the knock of 41 was enough to show the world that testing conditions gets the best out of him.
For Rahane, it was about proving to his detractors that he was still India’s best bet in the longest format of the game. And what an innings he played to remind all his critics that form is temporary and class is permanent. Just when the team needed him most, he stood up and delivered. His 48 was nothing short of the 150 that Kohli hit at the Centurion in the second Test. In fact, at times it looked like Rahane was batting on a different wicket and the rest on another. But timely blows on his body bore testimony that it was vintage Rahane on display and the wicket was still a ‘poor’ one, if not ‘very poor’.
Getting out down the leg-side to a flick off Morne Morkel was definitely not the best way to miss out on a well-deserved fifty, but by then, he had already taken India out of troubled waters and the lead read 196. After adding 34 with skipper Kohli, Rahane added another 55 with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvneshwar carried on the good work further as India finally ended with the score reading 247 and South Africa needing 241 to win.
But the bouncer in Bumrah’s first over – landing around the 8.5 metres-mark on the pitch map as per former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar – finally ended the day’s play as the umpires felt things were getting too close for comfort, after numerous deliberations all through the day. While a bouncer hitting a batsman is never a good sign, what South Africa coach Ottis Gibson said at the press conference at the end of the day’s play was sad. Calling a bouncer a length ball showed the hosts in very poor light.
"Dean went forward and the ball took off from a length. Whether it was 8m or not, even on a third-day pitch, you are not expecting the ball that pitches at 8m to take off and hit the batsman on the head without the batsman even having the time to take evasive action," Gibson said.
"At the end of the day, the umpires will make a decision, which they did. Before you go on about India batting twice on the same pitch, yes they did. And there were balls that were taking off from a length, and our captain was saying that, 'I'm not sure that this is fair either.' So it's not like we are sour grapes or anything. We felt this morning that when balls were taking off off a length, it was obviously a little bit tricky and a decision would have to be made."
The umpires and match referee have jointly decided that the match will start at 10am on Saturday morning and if anything, it is South Africa’s reputation at stake as the team asking for fast and bouncy wickets has gone on and backfired so badly that their batsmen have found it almost impossible to adapt to the minefield at the Wanderes. For India, it is about picking 9 wickets and registering a victory that shall be remembered by both fans and critics for years to come.
First Published: January 27, 2018, 7:50 AM IST