At one point in time, it did seem that South Africa were taking too long to declare their second innings. But seems they timed it perfectly.
In the 15.5 overs possible before stumps on Day IV, once the declaration was finally announced after Tristan Stubbs’ dismissal on 94, the South Africans managed to strike twice to leave India wobbling at 27/2, having set the hosts a mammoth 549-run target.
On the final day of this second and final Test, the Proteas need eight more wickets to sweep the series and make India suffer yet another home whitewash in the space of a year. For India, the task of even eking out a draw on this weary Guwahati track couldn’t have been more arduous. More so, with the likes of Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer pumped up after getting rid of openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, respectively, in the last hour of Tuesday’s play.
Even if South Africa are unable to win this Test, they will still be able to register their first series win on Indian soil in 25 years. India, in that case, will be able to avoid a whitewash, and for some in the Indian camp, that’s “as good as a winning situation.”
“We will have to bat well and take it session by session. If we don’t give a wicket in the first session, then there will obviously be pressure on the bowlers as they need to bowl us out.
“For us, it will be a win-win situation if we can bat the full day out tomorrow (Wednesday). It’ll be as good as a winning situation,” senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, the only bowler to create some pressure in South Africa’s second essay with figures of 4/62, said after the day’s play.
Jadeja believes losing this series will have no bearing on India’s next Test assignment, which is in Sri Lanka in August 2026. But in terms of World Test Championship (WTC) percentage points, a series loss against the Proteas will certainly hurt them. In any case, India are currently down to No.4 in the WTC standings.
It will be interesting to see, though, if any of the Indian batters, especially after the overnight pair of Sai Sudharsan and night-watchman Kuldeep Yadav gets separated, try out pyrotechnics once again to try and put some pressure back on the Proteas bowlers. The spotlight will surely be on stand-in captain Rishabh Pant, whose needless charge-down-the-track attempt against Jansen failed in the first innings.
Considering Pant’s nature, it will be surprising if he curbs his instinct or stays away from those cheeky attempts. However, trying those out could be mighty risky too on the final day track, especially with some of the deliveries staying quite low as well.
Keeping aside who comes out with what approach on the deciding day of the series, it’s important for India to keep themselves in a positive frame of mind, Jadeja emphasised. “For us, as a batting unit, tomorrow (Wednesday) will be very important as we need to keep ourselves in a positive frame of mind and try to play the whole day,” he stated.