India had intent and fight, South Africa had results

Before the match started, Virat Kohli, in his customary style, spoke with a lot of vigour. His words peeled off all over the place and he made sure that everyone got the message that his team was not very hassled with the series loss.

Perhaps this is the way he operates; it might have drawn flak from the people around, but he continues to stomp around with his words.

He dropped a hint about going in with five pace bowlers, a luxury not many Indian captains have had. The pitch was green, the grass covering was fresh, Wanderers never spins, Kohli won the toss, and elected to bat first!

A surprise for many, shock for a few, just another move of intent from the Indian captain.

"I always love playing at this stadium, it's a great vibe, I feel really good when I walk into this ground. The last time's Test match was very special and hopefully we can have as exciting a cricket match as we had last time, this time too," Kohli had said before the match.

This was his way of sending out a message, despite the fact that Faf du Plessis made it clear that they would have bowled first on this spicy track under overcast clouds.

Following norms is for the ordinary, it is about following the template, but for Kohli catapulting a few surprises is the norm, it is the way he wants to operate and despite the losses in the previous matches, he refused to blink.

His batting order was torn apart, strewn all over the place. The captain was agitated with them, he threw them a challenge. It was bullish, it was bold, it was everything one associates with Kohli, it was everything Indian openers would have dreaded.

Bear in mind, South Africa too played with five fast bowlers, their modus operandi was quite clear; they would pound in and blow away this Indian batting.

Was Kohli too callous in his perceived bravado?

The vibe which Kohli loves would have been sweeter had the series been on the line, but here he was, battling plenty of demons and even more detractors. He could have stuck to the prototype, he could have opted to bowl; instead KL Rahul and Murali Vijay sauntered out, Vernon Philander trundled in, and got the ball to jag around. There was swing, there was seam, there was bounce and there were plenty of clouds around.

Rahul nicked one to Quinton de Kock, the lonely march to the dressing room was accompanied by a nervous shadow prod.

Murali Vijay left few more deliveries outside off, but the odd chase was still there. He was beaten, he gave a smirk and then chased another one; nicked it!

Five innings, four dismissals while chasing balls outside the off stump. That Vijay from three years ago was sitting in a corner sulking away, shunted out despite all the success!

The furrowed eyebrows were almost together. As Kohli walked out, there were so many questions ready to smash in his face. He did not give it away though, but has he ever allowed external factors to have any effect on his game?

First ball on off stump, big stride forward, bat was thrown out of the way, yes, this leave had intent, it had Kohli marked all over it.

Failure is eroding, it is deprecating, it is miserable, but there is this with failure, if you are willing to stand up, and march away from it with purpose, it defines who you will eventually become.

What you overcome, how you overcome it eventually translates into what you become!

There were balls whizzing past the outside edge, there were balls striking the body, there were balls that were venomous, but there were two blokes who were resolute.

Cheteshwar Pujara forgot about runs, coerced his zone, his best mate at home, and entered it; nothing could sway him away from it. Runs stopped coming from his end, but he did not care. 53 balls had posed questions when he finally found an answer with a single. That smile said everything one wanted to know about the man. He was the slowest Indian to get off the mark, but, well he simply did not care!

Kohli, meanwhile, was bouncing around at the other end. He rode his luck, rode the ball, drove when pitched up, lambasted himself when he missed out on flicks and when India ended the first session at 45 for two, the spoils were shared!

They shared an 84-run stand, Kohli got to his half-century, in many ways reminding his openers that application was the antidote to this pitch.

Along the way, he was dropped on 11 and 32, nicked one just past the stumps, grinned too, but then everything snapped when Lungi Ngidi pitched one, up enticing the drive. Kohli accepted the bait, went for the slashing drive, and nicked it to AB de Villiers.

A valiant innings, probably his best effort on a spicy, torturous pitch, but as he left the ground, he grimaced, aware that he had left few runs out there on the field.

Ajinkya Rahane popped out, with a solid defence off the front foot. India’s best overseas batsman was finally at the crease. Vernon Philander got one to snake past him but all the hard work was undone as he had overstepped.

The sun was now blazing down. Had India finally got their share of luck?

Pujara stuck to his gameplan without worrying about the aesthetics

Few crisp drives followed, Pujara unfurled a few backfoot punches, things looked to be in control before Morne Morkel got one to swirl back in, trapping Rahane in front.

Pujara crawled his way to a dogged half-century, his route of playing the line and not chasing the movement yielding dividends. There was content and then one ball with his name on it was delivered by Andile Phehlukwayo. It kissed the bat and nestled in de Kock's gloves.

Parthiv Patel followed soon enough, chasing a short ball which was not wide enough, nicking off to de Kock.

Hardik Pandya, who was under fire for his reckless batting in Centurion, decided to unleash his pull. If there were people questioning his attitude after the second Test, they will now question his place after this stroke!

From 97 to three, India were now 144 for seven!

Once you have encountered failure, you have trouble even contemplating what and how you could have done things differently. The clutter in the mindset was there, naked in the bright sunlight. Yes, this is what the fear of failure does!

Bhuvneshwar Kumar started swinging his bat to accumulate few priceless runs towards the end. Hope does funny things, it was an act of hope!

He flung his bat around, dragging the score to 187.

The last six wickets were blown away for 43 runs.

India won the toss, but nothing apart from that.

The intent was there, the result, however, was seated in the other corner!

Failure for most parts should merely be a detour, it is by no means a dead-end. The Indian team dressing room should be echoing this, drilling it into the players!

Optimism defines humans, it defines the way we survive, those final strands which one clings to are perpetual optimism which might well be a force multiplier!

Over to the bowlers, perhaps the final straw for Virat Kohli!