South Africa vs India 2018: 5 areas of concern for India ahead of 2nd Test

Despite packing everything necessary for their tricky hike in South Africa, the Indian team were found wanting, yet again, on the slippery overseas terrain: the past laurels of home wins so joyfully sitting inside their backpacks failing to help them shrug off the nasty tag of being poor travellers. They slipped off the cliff and fell, badly crushing their dreams of somehow winning a series in the rainbow nation.

Before they carry their tattered baggage to Centurion, the Indian team need to fix the following problems, five issues that are deterrent to their success on the gruelling tour:

Questionable slip catching

Slip catching has been a veritable plague in the Indian team, more so when the red ball is in action. In 2017, the Indian team dropped as many as 33 catches out of the 116 catches that came their way. The problem stems from the fact that the Indian team's slip cordon changes its looks like a rustic revolving door, and has the catching ability of, well, a revolving door.

Gone are the days when Rahul Dravid used to pouch catches out of thin air: one doesn't need athleticism when standing next to the wicket-keeper, but oodles of concentration and the right balance to let the ball reach you, instead of going for it.

In overseas conditions, India might have the disadvantage of batting on tricky tracks, but need to grab every opportunity that comes to them on the field.

Shikhar Dhawan dropped a sitter at third slip in the first innings, letting Keshav Maharaj collect some crucial runs towards the end of the first innings. It brought back haunting memories of how India's slip catching has consistently been dubious despite the brilliant form in whites.

Seamers failing to sustain pressure

A steady feature of India's overseas plight has been the inability of the bowling attack to sustain pressure on the batsmen, even after getting the initial breakthroughs. While the side managed to bundle South Africa out for 130 in the second innings, the main reason why the visitors found themselves in the muddle that they did was primarily that they managed to let South Africa get to 286 after having them on the mat at 12-3.

AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis were gifted looseners: while the latter was in his typical stonewalling mood, de Villiers, in the midst of a long-awaited Test return, got the necessary deliveries to find his form back and play his strokes. Once he was in his element, he stamped his authority in such a way that the lead swelled enough to be the vital difference between the two sides at the end.

Inability to convert starts

The Indian batting line-up is a solid example of 'equitable distribution', the runs were spread across nicely among the batsmen, the issue being that the runs themselves were humiliatingly few.

If one takes out Hardik Pandya's enterprising 93, five batsmen in the first innings, and six in the second, managed to get into two digits, but none could go past even 40. It shows how desperately the Indian batsmen need to sustain their starts and stick around for much more substantial contributions.

In the first innings, Dhawan and Pujara, and later Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin got starts, but departed at the most crucial of junctures, derailing India's innings completely. There was no initiative from any of the batsmen to hold the innings and anchor it, with each batsman fighting his own battle for survival.

In the second innings, with a tricky chase on, four of the top five batsmen got into double figures, but as Kohli said in the post-match conference, 'we needed someone to score 75-80'.

Failure to play across the line

More than the ability, the South African bowlers seemed to have toyed with the brains of the Indian batsmen. The pacers had a foolproof plan, enticing the batsmen into poking at the ball by bowling in the channel, then slipping one in to fool them. It happened repeatedly, the victims being Rohit Sharma in the first innings and Virat Kohli in the second.

Kohli was set up well by Vernon Philander. The first three deliveries of the over were all outside the off-stump, with Kohli watchfully playing and leaving. The fourth ball, however, pitched on the off-stump itself and jagged in, leaving an unprepared Kohli late on the ball.

Dale Steyn accounted for Wriddhiman Saha with a leg before in the first innings, while Kagiso Rabada caught him in front of the stumps in the second. In overseas conditions, a clear understanding of the location of the stumps is imperative to leave deliveries outside off, and play those that are hurtling towards the woodwork.

The inability of the top-order to protect the middle-order

Murali 'Monk' Vijay would have been one of the punters' favourites as India's best bet for sticking around against the new ball: his unquestionable batting technique and temperament are ideal for a foreign setting. The only problem is that the real Vijay hasn't turned up yet in South Africa. He seemed out of sorts in both the innings.

Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, blew hot and cold, largely looking unsure as the ball didn't come on to the bat as easily as it does on subcontinent surfaces. His drives didn't go past the infield, and he looked susceptible outside the off-stump.

With Pujara adding to the list of failures, the manner in which the top-order imploded put immense pressure on the middle order, still sorting its combination. The primary purpose of the openers, to weather the new ball for the middle-order, wasn't fulfiled, leading to the embarrassing dismantling of the batting.