India vs South Africa, 1st Test: KL Rahul keeps India alive

NEW DELHI: A gripping day of cricket saw two fighters from either team —

Kagiso Rabada

and

KL Rahul

— come up with standout efforts on the first day of the two-Test series. Paceman Rababa’s 5-44 included three almost unplayable deliveries to

Shreyas Iyer

,

Virat Kohli

and R Ashwin. He also foxed

Rohit Sharma

and

Shardul Thakur

. Rahul, who is set to don the wicketkeeping gloves for the first time in Tests, married technique, grit and controlled aggression for an invaluable knock (batting on 70; 105b, 10x4, 2x6). Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar called Rahul’s runs “as valuable as a century”. Rahul watched the ball closely and played late.

At stumps on a rain-affected day, India were 208-8 after 59 overs on a pitch that had bounce and also assisted seam and swing. Play started half an hour late and ended 80 minutes early due to rain. The moisture in the pitch meant scoring freely was never easy.

Rohit conceded just before the start of play that it was probably a good toss to lose. The Indian tail took quite a few blows as they attempted to prolong the innings and give Rahul company. Shardul Thakur was hit on the helmet off Coetzee, resulting in swelling on the forehead, and suffered a blow on the forearm off Rabada.

Jasprit Bumrah

was hit on the fingers by Rabada. Even Rahul took a couple of blows in his stride. Rabada, who didn’t have Lungi Ngidi for company, proved quite a handful. He lured Rohit (5) to a pull shot that ended in the hands of fine- leg. In the first over after lunch, Rabada beat Shreyas Iyer (31 off 50) for pace with a ball that jagged back. The batter failed to read the length.

Rabada then got big fish Virat Kohli (38 off 64) caught behind with a ball that angled in and moved away. Ashwin, who got into the XI because

Ravindra Jadeja

suffered from a back spasm, could not handle the bounce. This passage of play after lunch saw India lose three wickets for 30 runs. It was Rabada’s 14th five-wicket haul in Tests and with a strike rate of less than 40 (a wicket every 7th over), he is an all-time leader in strike rate in Test cricket among bowlers who have played 60-plus Tests. His career Test average is 22. Though both Shreyas and Kohli’s regulation offerings were dropped by

South Africa

, debutant left-arm pacer Nandre Burger provided exuberant assistance to Rabada. He removed opener Yashwai Jaiswal (caught behind in the slips while driving) and one-down Shubman Gill (gloved down the leg and adjudged out after review). India handed a Test cap to Prasidh Krishna as they opted for a four-pronged pace attack. Regular captain Tenda Bavuma, incidentally, pulled a muscle while fielding.

As India kept losing wickets at regular intervals — a 68-run fourth-wicket stand between Kohli and Shreyas was the highest — Rahul looked rock solid. He was neither consumed by pace or conditions but respected both. His six over point off Burger was the shot of the day. The off-drives, hard slash and pull shots were used judiciously. Jaiswal and Kohli had got decent starts and looked in control. The left-handed opener could not execute the drive well, and the former skipper paid the price for committing on the front foot. Left-arm pacer Marco Jansen, who opened the attack with Rabada, struggled to find his line and speedster Coetzee gave away some free runs due to his over-aggression.Despite losing eight wickets on the first day, India are very much in the game, thanks to Rahul’s knock.