Here’s the data you must read as a die-hard Indian cricket fan:
The Men in Blue scripted history after winning their first-ever bilateral series in South Africa.
The match lasted till five sessions, and 642 balls where India defeated South Africa by seven wickets, to level the two-match Test series 1-1.
The second T20I of the four-match series will be played on Sunday, November 10 at the St George’s Park in Gqeberha.
The former Indian coach added that there is nothing to worry about for Team India.
Post the series win, South African players took to social media to share celebratory posts and messages. However, one post that grabbed the limelight was that of spinner Keshav Maharaj.
Virat Kohli too departed soon after scoring a well made 65.
Rishabh Pant got out on his very first delivery while going for a big shot in the 3rd ODI against South Africa.
As far as his performance on the cricket field is concerned, Kohli is currently in the middle of a run chase as India are eyeing to chase down 289 in 50 overs to win the third and final ODI against South Africa.
Kohli the captain was a habit which will take some time and effort to get rid of.
In the heat of the moment, the players of the Indian team used abusive language while celebrating the wicket.
Twitterati quite expectedly was not pleased with the broadcaster’s act and slammed them for disrespecting the privacy of the family.
Netizens opined that after suffering back to back defeats, KL Rahul is finally doing the right thing with the changes he made on field.
Virat Kohli has been century-less in his last 17 ODI innings. His last ODI century came against West Indies on 14 August, 2019.
There were plenty of runs on offer in the first match and it is expected to remain the same in the second match as well.
It will be interesting to see whether this time South Africa could change their fortunes against a top-quality side like India in white-ball cricket.
South Africa will have Quinton de Kock back in the side and he is expected to open the batting with Janeman Malan.
The host captain said that he was extremely happy that the Indian camp got frustrated after the DRS call.
India’s vice-captain, who is usually very silent and quiet on the field, was also unhappy with sequence of events on Day 3 in Cape Town.
After India were bowled out on 223, South Africa ended Day 1 at score of 17/1.
India’s captain was the lone warrior for his side in first innings of 3rd Test, scoring 79 runs off 201 deliveries.
Dean Elgar led his side brilliantly and played a crucial knock with the bat to chase 240 runs in 4th innings of the 2nd match.
India’s major concern in the match will be their batting lineup as batters have performed but in bits & pieces.
Hanuma Vihari and Mohammed Siraj might make way for the two experienced campaigners in 3rd Test.
In tricky batting conditions, all eyes will be on the in-form openers of two sides – KL Rahul and Dean Elgar.
The third Test is scheduled to start from January 11 in Cape Town and will be the series decider.
Lal believes that Wrridhiman Saha could be a more sensible batting option in these conditions than Pant.
Dean Elgar’s 96* in the 4th innings is the 2nd highest score by a South African Captain against India in Test Cricket.
With aggression coming from both ends, a verbal exchange between Mumbai Indians’ teammates Jasprit Bumrah and Marco Jansen was seen.
While India will be hoping to pile on as many runs as possible, South Africa would be aiming for the remaining 8 wickets. But will the weather permit both teams to get a move on Day 3?
The forecast for the second day of the 2nd Test isn’t that bright as there are showers and scattered thunderstorms predicted for the first hour itself.
The news is surprising because head coach Rahul Dravid had mentioned that Virat Kohli was looking forward to his 100th Test match which would have been the last Test on the tour, had he played this game.
While Dwyane Pretorious makes a comeback into the South Africa national team setup, they will continue to miss the services of speedster Anrich Nortje.
The Player of the Match of the opening Test match KL Rahul could not only walk into the Fantasy team for the second Test but could even be considered for either of the captain or vice-captain options.
The second game of 3-match series will kick off at Wanderers on January 3, Monday.
The ODIs will see Virat Kohli playing under the leadership of KL Rahul.
KL Rahul won the Man of the Match award for his brilliant 113 run knock in the 1st innings.
Mohammed Shami became 5th Indian pacer to take 200 wickets in Test cricket.
Bumrah had already taken a wicket and was looking threatening.
The Mumbai-batter knows that if he fails to score runs, he would not be part of the XI after having been discharged from his vice-captaincy duties already.
As far as the cricketing action is concerned, South Africa’s Marco Jansen has been handed a debut in this fixture.
Dean Elgar will lead the Test side, while Temba Bavuma will be his deputy.
Other than India, South Africa will also host Netherlands who will be on its shores in late November for a three-match ODI series.