5 reasons why Team India lost at Durban
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India came into the 2nd Test riding on a strong show in the first Test and everyone expected the visitors to challenge the hosts once again with an impressive performance. After a dismal ODI series, India looked to have put the disappointment behind them and came out all guns blazing in Johannesburg to draw an ever swinging match. They carried the confidence to Durban and after winning the toss and electing to bat on a subcontinent type pitch; India put in a commanding performance on day 1 only to lose their way and handed over the Test and the series to the hosts. So where did the Indians falter? Where did they lose the plot? Here I set out to list 5 reasons where the Indians went wrong.
Lack of responsibility
Promising players like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja failed to score big in Johannesburg and once again in Durban, they failed to put on a big score. The responsibility of scoring the runs thus lied solely on the likes of the Kohli and the Pujara who tried valiantly but got caught up in the case of one too many. The sole mantra of occupying the crease vent in vain, and they got out to loose shots thus failing to apply themselves and failed to ensure the team got a big score. Be it Jadeja going for a 6 with the team at 172-7 or Dhoni playing a soft shot, Indian batsmen lacked ideas which eventually lead to the dismissal.