A big score in the first innings will be the aim of the Indian cricket team when they resume play on the second day of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, having finished the opening day of the Freedom Series 2021 at a strong positioning of 272/3 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.
On a surprisingly flat wicket at Centurion, the Indian batsmen minus Cheteshwar Pujara made merry on the opening day of this much-awaited series, led by the marvellous KL Rahul, who scored his first century in South Africa and fifth outside Asia to put India in a commanding position at stumps on the opening day itself.
Rahul’s 122 not out, for which he consumed as many as 248 deliveries and hit 17 boundaries and a six, showed it was possible to score a century in South Africa — a land where batsmen have found difficulties doing so.
Rahul was impeccable on Sunday, celebrating his vice-captaincy debut with an innings that many batsmen know what it takes to produce but seldom do they succeed in it. With unflinching focus and tremendous discipline outside the off-stump line, Rahul showcased his mettle in the longest format by producing an innings of highest quality, which had both — spectacular strokes all around the ground as well as resolute defence highlighted by profound judgement and technique in leaving deliveries.
Rahul, in the company of his Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarwal, provided India with their first-ever century stand in South Africa since their famous tour in 2010. The two right-handed batsmen, who both have found their places back into the team following injuries to the team’s last favourite pair and Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, added 117 runs for the first wicket to provide India with a strong footing on the first day of the series.
While Rahul got luckier and settled as the play progressed on Sunday, Agarwal found himself hard done by when a DRS review against him taken by South Africa showed the ball clipping the wickets when everyone believed it was flying over them. And by the time he was removed from the equation, Agarwal had followed his 150 and 62 in the previous Test at Mumbai with a resolute 60 on Sunday, which came from 123 balls and 9 boundaries.
Lungi Ngidi provided South Africa with the first breakthrough in the session and got success instantly when he had Cheteshwar Pujara caught bye short leg Keegan Petersen for a first-ball duck. Interestingly this was only the second time when Pujara was dismissed for a golden duck in Test cricket, against the same bowler and at the same venue.
India captain Kohli had scored a fabulous 153 the last time he had batted at Centurion and a big score was expected from him on Sunday. Kohli began comfortably, defending well on the front foot and punishing the loose balls while trying not to rush through his innings. However, having batted extremely well for his 35, Kohli chased the 94th delivery of his innings on Sunday — one which was meant to be left alone — getting an edge to be caught at the first slip. Kohli added 82 runs for the third wicket with Rahul.
Earlier in the day, India had surprised one and all by sticking with Ajinkya Rahane who had been lacking conviction with the bat along with scores that are synonymous with a specialist middle-order batsmen. But with his back firmly pressed against a wall knowing that this could very well be his last opportunity, Rahane decided to take the aggressive route.
It is said that sometimes attack is the best form of defence and Rahane reaped rich benefits on Sunday when he clattered eight boundaries to reach 40 not out, adding 73 runs unbeaten for the fourth wicket with Rahul to put India in a commanding position.
On their part, the home team lacked both conviction as well as performance on Sunday for which South African Test teams are generally known for. While their bowlers were erratic in the first session, the flatness of the pitch at Centurion SuperSport Park also did not help their cause. South Africa also made a tactical error in leaving out fast bowler Duanne Olivier, sticking with all-rounder Wiaan Mulder as their fourth seamer after Kagiso Rabada, Ngidi and the lanky Marco Jansen.
Jansen did extremely well on the opening day to create challenging angles using his tall frame against the string of right-handed Indian batsmen. He also produced an edge off Agarwal’s bat which was put down by Quinton de Kock behind the wickets, when the batsman was just settling in.
South Africa will hope to come back hard on the second day morning and take a flurry of wickets to deny India a chance at a big score in the first innings. At the same time, India, who are chasing their maiden Test series victory in South Africa after many attempts, would want to maximise their advantage by scoring anywhere close to 450 in the first innings of the Centurion Test.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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