South Africa vs India 2013: 1st Test, Day 3: 5 things India need to do to take control

The first 2 days of cricket at the New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg have treated us to some riveting Test match action. After 6 see-sawing sessions and 169 overs, neither of the two teams can claim to be in the ascendancy.

Here is a list of 5 things M.S Dhoni’s men can do on the 3rd day to seize control of the match:

5) Turning ‘advantageous’ positions into ‘commanding’ ones:

Twice in India’s first innings, just when the team was starting to seize control, SA were let right back into the game.

Both, Pujara’s run-out & Kohli getting out very close to the end of day’s play were critical moments. India will do well to get one big 100+ partnership in the second innings and really take the driver’s seat in this match.

4) Caution & aggression while batting:

The Indian batsmen did commendably well on Day 1 in leaving balls outside the off stump on Day 1 but fell playing at similar kind of deliveries on the second morning.

Indian fans will be hoping for a repeat of the Day 1 performance when India eventually come out to bat on Day 3. While Virat & Pujara will definitely hold the key, Shikhar Dhawan might just prove to be the joker in the pack.

Dhawan should be encouraged to attack the bowling at any given chance. Giving one of the top order batsmen to go after the bowling might well be a gamble worth taking at this stage of the match.

3) Slip catching :

Most people never thought about what a difficult task it was going to be to replace Dravid, Tendulkar & Laxman in the slip cordon. Slip fielding is a crucial factor in winning test matches abroad & India quite simply cannot afford to put down chances.

Ashwin & Rohit both dropped catches in the slips on Day 2. Any more of the same might witness SA run away with the game & take what could be a very important lead.

2) Dhoni’s tactics & Ashwin’s line of attack :

Having the opposition 6/7 down but not being able to finish off the tail has been an age old problem for Indian cricket. We witnessed more of that last evening when SA put on an unbroken 67-run stand for the 7th wicket. This period saw R.Ashwin bowling the majority of his 6 overs & while going for 25 runs in those 6 overs was bad, the way in which he conceded those runs was even more disappointing.

It was a combination of unimaginative captaincy & bad bowling. Ashwin continuously bowled short on a middle-leg line allowing the batsmen to work him away off the back foot. Dhoni also did not help his bowler by setting defensive fields. Ashwin will have to up his game on Day 3 & at least hold one end up while the pacers are being rotated.

1) Start the day with the seamers:

The Indian seamers have bowled 60 overs between the three of them on Day 2. That is indeed a heavy workload for any pacer & more so for Zaheer Khan who has just come back from injury into the Test side after more than a year.

However, it will be critical for Dhoni to start the day off by bowling Ishant, Shami & Zaheer. South Africa are now just 67 behind, and India cannot afford to wait for things to happen by bowling Ashwin on a pitch which will get increasingly difficult to bat on.

A couple of early blows with the reverse swinging ball might just be what India need right now.