2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke made by India in the 2nd Test vs South Africa ft. Nitish Kumar Reddy

South Africa completed a 2-0 whitewash for team India as they clinched the second and final Test by 408 runs in Guwahati on Wednesday, November 26. The Proteas have also made a significant lead in the race for the final of the ongoing World Test Championship.

India’s tactics were sub-par for a while, and the same continued in the second Test. Gautam Gambhir and Rishabh Pant made a number of strange decisions over the course of the competition, and the head coach now finds himself under immense pressure to turn around the team’s fortunes in red-ball cricket.

In this regard, there are two mistakes and one masterstroke committed by India in the second Test against South Africa.

Mistake #3 – What purpose did the inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy serve?

Gambhir is known to love all his players, but Nitish Kumar Reddy’s involvement in Test cricket did not go as planned. The all-rounder has been used as an afterthought with the ball, and sometimes not so much. In Guwahati, he bowled a calm 10 overs and batted outside the sixth over.

Reddy also appeared out of his depth. After enduring a string of rough performances since his time at Perth Toon, he was bounced by Marko Janssen in the first innings and was easily brought back during Simon Harmer’s reverse sweep in the chase.

India would have been better off opting for a specialist batsman if they did not want to take advantage of Reddy’s bowling. Furthermore, there is clearly no place for chop and chop players in the longer format.

#2 Master Blow – India were not hesitant to use Kuldeep Yadav’s batting

Kuldeep Yadav showed great application and poise in the Guwahati Test. On a pitch where other batsmen struggled, he made a vigil of 134 balls in the first innings which earned him promotion to the second round.

Kuldeep entered at number four. While his role appeared to be that of a night watchman, the fact that there was enough time to go before Stumps suggests it may have been a strategic move as well. The left-hander produced more of the same in the chase, taking the team safely into the fifth over and hitting the South African spinners solidly.

Mistake #1 – Rishabh Pant’s bowling changes were consistently poor

Rishabh Pant’s first Test as captain saw him make a number of initial errors in the field. The skipper’s bowling changes were bizarre, and his field placements were not much better.

Pant had many border jockeys even when South Africa had fresh paste at the crease, and one-on-one milking was very easy. He did not bowl his spinners in overs longer than seven overs in most of the first innings, with two bowlers bowling more than 30 overs in a home Test for the first time since 2009.

Curiously, Pant bowled Kuldeep for just 12 runs on day three despite his left-arm wrist-spinner being one of the team’s strongest weapons on the surface. India were really expecting more from one of their most experienced Test players.