Batting woes and lack of discipline exposed as Virat Kohli's team India fail first true overseas Test

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  • India's batsmen have been found wanting in all four innings.

    One session was all it took for South Africa to wipe out India’s remaining seven wickets on the final day as the hosts completed a 135-run win in the second Test at Centurion to clinch the three-match series.

    On a pitch which had Morne Morkel convinced he was bowling in the subcontinent, India’s much vaunted batting card once again collapsed like a house of cards to leave one wondering what the fuss was all about in the first place.

    After four innings in South Africa, India have crossed the 200-run mark only once, in the first innings at Centurion. Their scorecards in the series so far read: 130, 135, 258 and 141, a dismal run for a side which has established itself as top-ranked Test outfit over the past 18 months.

    Bar two standout individual knocks in Hardik Pandya’s 93 in the first Test and Virat Kohli’s 153 at Centurion, India’s batting has been shambolic to say the least with none of the other batsmen putting together any innings of note.

    If the batting performance by the Indians looks grim right now, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that the tourists could have very well folded for a 100 odd in all four of their innings so far if not for the two individual heroics.

    Kohli and India mentioned that they were not looking to prove a point as they embarked on their first of many tough trials to come overseas in 2018. However, despite what was said in public, there is no doubt that improving their overseas results was the biggest priority for the Indians having established themselves as the indisputable top dogs in Test cricket following a period of sustained domination at home.

    Pandya's robust 93 was the only knock on note by an Indian in the first Test.

    Pandya’s robust 93 was the only knock of note by an Indian in the first Test.

    Within two Tests, the South Africans have exposed all the deficiencies in the techniques of the Indian batsmen. While there is a fine line between defensive and attacking batting, the Indians have been caught in the middle with nowhere to hide. When they have tried to dig in, they have only crumbled after a brief resistance without making any indents in the scorecard while they have perished more often than nought while attempting to attack their way out of trouble.

    Without any tour matches to prepare themselves for such an important series, India’s batsmen who were roared like tigers back home have been more likes foxes caught in the headlights in South Africa.

    More than their shortcomings with technique, it has been the lack of discipline which has done India in so far. In the defeat at Centurion, the visitors lost the all important wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Pandya to needless run-outs in the first innings. Their second innings was no better with Pujara succumbing once again in similar fashion to become the first Indian to be run-out twice in the same Test.

    India’s batsmen have simply failed to put enough of a premium on their wickets in the tour and have subsequently paid the price in a game of small margins.

    Then there is their fielding where they have failed to latch on to their catches at crucial junctures of the game. Parthiv Patel was in the spotlight at Centurion where he dropped a sitter before failing to even attempt to grab a knick by Dean Elgar in the second that left Kohli and the others scratching their heads in disbelief.

    Parthiv was guilty of dropping two chances in the second Test.

    Parthiv was guilty of dropping two chances in the second Test.

    While South Africa have themselves been guilty of throwing away wickets to cheap run-outs, they have been nothing short of exemplary on the field, especially with their catching.

    India’s bowling has been their only saving grace on the tour so far and even there they have fallen some way short of their South African counterparts. While they have picked up 20 wickets in both Tests, they have allowed the hosts to escape from a position of peril in both matches.

    Questionable selections by Kohli have been the hot topic of debate in the series, India’s woes are many and it is difficult to point the blame at a single department. Having failed their very first overseas acid Test now, the warning signs are already looming for the tours of England and Australia to come later this year.

    With the norm of failures abroad continuing, it will be difficult for Kohli’s India to stake their claim as a truly great Test side. They still have one Test to salvage some pride but for now, they are only strengthening the notion of India being tigers at home but duds overseas.

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