IND vs SA | Ranchi Day 2 Talking Points - South Africa’s renouncement and Rohit Sharma refusal to stop getting better

BySritama Panda,SportsCafe Editor

10/20/2019

As South Africa lost two early wickets before bad light stopped play, it was more evident how the visitors have given up looking at the nature of their dismissals. Amidst South Africa's ceding and desperation, Rohit Sharma shone one more time and this time a tribute to Sehwag on his birthday.

South Africa never did their homework for India tour

While Faf du Plessis is seen as an able captain even in adverse situations, this series spoke a different story entirely. It wasn’t unknown to Faf or any of the players about the conditions in India and yet they came without any homework. Sure the bowlers, especially the pacers, would’ve struggled due to the humidity in Vizag but there was no plan to limit that constraint in affecting their performance. If we look back to the home series against England in 2012, it was a spinner duo- Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann- who humiliated India on their own soil. Sure, physiologically gifted players like Alastair Cook didn’t have to worry about getting exhausted in Indian conditions, but for the rest they had the perfect game plan, almost never requiring to exhaust their pacers.

But ever since South Africa toured India in 2015, they made India look unbeatable at home. In 2019 again, they came to the subcontinent with no intention to turn things around. The very first partnership between Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal on Day 1 of the first Test was enough to disintegrate South Africa’s will power, something that never recovered in this series. A major element of Test cricket is about learning from your mistakes and gauging the weaknesses of your opponents better, but the visitors let loose all of those factors and went into the Pune Test with the same demeanour and the result was a humiliating innings defeat.

In a rare first session of the Ranchi Test, they did get a grip over India but once again Rohit Sharma proved his dominance dismantling whatever South African pacers had built in the first few hours, the ghosts of which haunted them on Day 2. South Africa literally never had a gameplan. Not in 2015, not before flying to India and not even now.

Rohit Sharma pays a worthy tribute to Sehwag

Before opening in the Vizag Test, Rohit Sharma had never opened in the longest format before. And today, less than a month later he has three Test hundreds as an opener one of which he converted into a double hundred. And now India have three double centurions in this Test series. Now speaking of how Rohit Sharma’s innings stands out amongst these gigantic set of innings.

On Day 1, the moment Rohit hit a six - when on 95*- to reach his hundred, the Sehwag style tag was associated to his knock immediately. Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane’s heroics set the stage on fire and put the crowd into life while accelerating India’s innings significantly. While Rahane (115 off 192) got dismissed early in the day after scoring his hundred, Rohit continued to get those runs coming. Cricket’s ‘Hitman’ lived up to his name and took the fans through the roads of nostalgia once again, this time on Virender Sehwag’s birthday.

No one can deny that their fearless brand of cricket connects the two cricketers across generations. Batting on 195, at the end of lunch Day 2, Rohit Sharma cobbled a little bit in the second session before executing a full-bodied pull in front of square and the ball sailed all the way to bring about his maiden Test double hundred. There can’t be a better tribute to Sehwag on his birthday and not to forget, Sharma is creating his own legacy too.

South Africa’s glimpses of desperation in a full-fledged renouncement

There’s little doubt in declaring that South African fans have given up watching this series and there’s little blame to be given to them since the team ceded much earlier than the hopeful fans ever did. But as professional cricketers, the Proteas should’ve shown more intent and not just because these dead rubbers carry meaning now due to the ICC Test Championship, but also because you simply don’t give up after an episode of actually dominating over the superior team. But South Africa has been doing this dance to the music of no determination.

Faf du Plessis has gone from an enthusiastic leader to a confused and hopeless skipper and this demeanour has induced into his players as well. Of course, they did show sporadic desperation in a full-fledged effort of renouncing but Test cricket is competitive and yet not about desperation, a thing that was lost on the touring team. An appeal for Rohit Sharma’s lbw in Dane Piedt’s over, when Rohit Sharma was on 179, was turned down by the umpire. And yet it was challenged by Faf who was nowhere near to the vantage point of the batsman and wasted a review there on a wicket that never was.

Coming to the bowlers, Anrich Nortje did improve his length from what we had seen in the Pune Test, but soon the expensive short balls would return on Day 2 and at one point after Rohit Sharma crossed 150, one of the worst possible deliveries was bowled by Nortje and in response, Sharma slapped it behind point. And that sums up South Africa’s ‘efforts’ in this series.