PRETORIA: Virat Kohli hit out at his India side after they put up little to no resistance on the final day of the second Test against South Africa to lose by 135 runs.
The tourists went into the fifth day on 35 for three, needing another 252 runs to square the three-match series. With Kohli already back in the pavilion that was always going to be a tough task. But not even the most pessimistic Indian fan would have predicted their side would lose their remaining seven wickets in just 27.2 overs to gift the Test to South Africa.
With the hosts also having an unassailable 2-0 series lead Kohli could not hid his despair and anger at the abject display.
“We have not come here to play the way we have done,” the captain said.
“That is something that we definitely need to speak about. We need to be hard on ourselves. We will ask the guys to be honest about what they were feeling at particular stages in the game.
“Unless you speak about it and lay it out in front of everyone, there is very little chance of improving. The mistakes that we made have really been about not putting attention to detail at important stages of the game.
“Individuals have to sit and reflect on these things themselves. I am not saying they don’t, but we have repeated these mistakes in both matches. There have been many soft dismissals, which as a team are not acceptable.”
Kohli’s magnificent 153 in the first innings gave India an even chance, but no one else made even a half-century in either innings. Rohit Sharma top scored with 47 on the final day, but by the time he and Mohammed Shami decided to swing their bats to add 54 for the eighth wicket, the pursuit of 287 was doomed. Lungi Ngidi (six for 39) did the mopping up to cap a sensational debut.
“This time round, we haven’t batted well as a unit,” said Kohli, who bristled with anger at a couple of questions that targeted India’s chop-and-change selection policy.
“We bowled well. We didn’t bowl as well last time (2013-14). That’s the most hurtful thing, that the skills are not coming together at the right time, including fielding. They were far superior to us in the field. All three things have to come together well in tough situations to be able to win Test matches and series.”
Faf du Plessis, the winning captain, mischievously suggested that his side triumphed because India were a one-batsman team. “We feel as an opposition that India is very reliant on Virat to score runs,” he said. “So that’s the difference. AB (De Villiers) has scored runs. Dean (Elgar), Aiden (Markram) and I have scored runs. I feel the difference is we don’t rely on just one guy. As a team, we’ve been better.”
In late 2015, South Africa went to India and were thrashed 3-0 on pitches loaded in favor of the home spinners. This result, with the series clinched on an a typical Centurion pitch that resembled an Asian one, was therefore immensely satisfying for du Plessis.
“It was tough for us in India,” he said.
“Personally, and as a team, we struggled there, and mentally it took a toll on us, even after that series.
“The guys were extremely motivated for this series to put that right. I think you could see that in this Test especially. In conditions that should suit them more than us, we adapted really well and we fought every hour to get ahead in the game. It’s very pleasing sitting here 2-0 up.”
SENSATIONAL AT CENTURION OR POOR IN PRETORIA?
Arab News look at who had a good day and who had a day to forget on day five of the Centurion Test...
SENSATIONAL AT CENTURION: Lungi Ngidi
“The moment for me, I think, was the captain’s wicket,” said Lungi Ngidi after stunning match figures of seven for 90 had won him the Man of the Match award. “That was a very special moment. I felt that I had worked hard and sort of figured out a game plan of bowling toward him [Kohli]. So finally getting that really did mean a lot to me.” That wicket came on the fourth evening, and Ngidi backed it up on the final morning with the scalps of Hardik Pandya, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Only six South Africa have had better figures than his six for 39 in their debut Test.
POOR IN PRETORIA: Cheteshwar Pujara
About ten months ago, Pujara batted 672 minutes and 525 balls for 202 to guide India out of a tricky situation in a Test match against Australia in Ranchi. The team needed similar sort of application from him at Centurion, resuming at 35 for three and needing a further 252 to square the series. Instead, Pujara decided to take on AB de Villiers’s throwing arm 20 minutes into the day’s play. The result was predictable, with Pujara — “slower than a church mouse” to quote the great Michael Holding — short of the crease. With just 49 from four innings, Pujara may just have run himself out of the side.
