The dream, which started at the Wanderers four years ago, will come true in the New Year’s Test match starting on Monday at the same ground. There were ups and downs along the way, but India are now one win away from a win in South Africa for the first time ever. And this opportunity comes after winning series one after the other in Australia and England.
Starting with England, where India had taken a 2-1 lead in the first series covid Centurion was forced to postpone the fifth Test, a pattern that has emerged in India’s overseas victories is the success of their opening partnership.
Be it Lord’s, Oval or Centurion, India have won a Test match when there has been at least one major opening partnership. In England, it was KL Rahul And Rohit Sharma Whereas in South Africa, it is Mayank Agarwal And Rahul, who has started India, who has laid the foundation.
Mayank-Rahul’s 117-run partnership in the first innings at Centurion was the difference maker. Compare this with South Africa’s opening partnerships in both innings (2 and 1), and you will know how crucial the first three hours of the first day when Mayank and Rahul batted. And the margin of victory? Well, 113 runs.
What makes it even more special is that the openers involved are not branded Test-match specialists at all. All three are successful in white-ball cricket and it required extreme adaptation on their part to produce timely merchandise on tough pitches against quality pace attack with red cherries.
Rahul, who scored 123 and 23, said, “You have to learn to enjoy dropping the balls. Yes, white-ball cricket has its own thrill of smashing the ball around the park, but that’s something I love.” had to learn.” Man of the match was declared after the match.
Rahul, a natural stroke-player, went through a period of intense struggle as an opener in England in 2018, after which he was dropped from the Test squad. From there, consuming 260 balls for a score of 123 tells a lot about his tenacity. Talking about the consistency of Indian openers in recent times, former India players WV Raman He said that there has been a conscious change in his approach.
“The first thing you will notice in the Indian openers from the England tour is their tendency to drop too many deliveries and play close to the body. They are curbing their natural tendency to go for expansive drives, thus reducing the chances And when they are being beaten, the ball often misses the edge too,” Raman told TOI.
The former left-handed batsman, who suffered a 0-2 loss to India in the 1996–97 series, also felt that the Indian openers had made a conscious effort to keep their lower arm loose. “It gives more flexibility to the shots and sometimes the edge doesn’t even move. All those things have a cumulative effect,” Raman said.
Continuity of opening partnerships by India seems to be more prominent as the teams that India have played with in the recent overseas lack quality openers. While England struggled badly with the likes of Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed, Dean Algary could not deal with Jasprit Bumrah While in the first innings at Centurion Aiden Markram In both of them there seemed to be a fish out of the water.
At the other end, the Indian batsmen’s section is dominating and there is some quality guidance too, which is making a difference. while the former coach Ravi Shastri He had his own way of communicating his message, Mayank reveals how Rahul Dravid Insisted on playing ugly when needed.
“The coach said that when you are playing in South Africa, you will often not look good. But it is not about looking good, it is just about sticking to your plans, being disciplined, being as disciplined as possible. Get out and score runs on the board,” said Mayank, who scored 60 in the first innings.
It is up to Mayank and Rahul to keep doing the dirty work with Allen at Wanderers, where the challenges will more or less resemble a South African attack thirsty for revenge.
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