"You don't want to bat again even more" - Ashish Nehra on visitors' approach on Day 3 of 1st India vs South Africa Test
Ashish Nehra believes India need to play with a mindset of batting only once when they step onto the Centurion field for Day 3 of the first Test against South Africa.
Virat Kohli's men went to stumps on Sunday with a brilliant 272/3 on board. But the rain washed out the entire Day 2, leaving both teams just three more days to force a result. Nehra said the visitors don't need to drastically up their scoring rate because there's still time in the match and the pitch is also favoring the bowlers.
The former left-arm pacer wants India to try and put up a total big enough to bowl South Africa out twice in two days. Nehra told Cricbuzz:
"There are still 4 (3) days left in this Test and the way the game has proceeded so far, the way the pitch has behaved - if it had been a flat pitch and there was no help for bowlers then the day's loss would have had a bigger impact. It can have an impact still but 4 days on this surface, you can still see a result and India just needs to put runs on the board... Now you don't want to bat again even more because you have already scored 273 runs and don't need to drastically increase the run rate."
Nehra feels that the washout doesn't impact India much because a 400-plus total from here would almost rule out a loss for them. Nehra continued:
"If you score around 450, the weather keeps changing and there's moisture on the pitch then South African batters might also struggle. Runs on board is always runs on board. In four-day matches, if the team batting first can put 425-450 runs on the board, they rule out their loss. From India's perspective, it will have an impact but not much if they can put up 400+ runs and the conditions don't change much."
Players on both sides are habitual of four-day games as the format is used in their respective domestic red-ball cricket too.
Unfortunately, due to the large volume of rain today at Centurion, play has been called off for the day.
#SAvIND https://t.co/NQ5Jbc8MlJ
For India, the main point of concern would be the newly added moisture to the surface which might make the Centurion pitch will assist fast bowlers a lot in the first hour of play on Tuesday. If KL Rahul, batting at 122, and Ajinkya Rahane at 40, can see off this phase, 400 or even 500 might be on the cards.
"Shardul Thakur can have a big role" - Ashish Nehra
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Of dance moves, comebacks and more - here's a fun Walk & Talk, featuring @ashwinravi99 & @imShard. 👍 👍 - By @28anand
Full video 🔽 #TeamIndia #SAvIND
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When asked whether India's strategy of going with five bowlers would help them more now that one day is washed out completely, Nehra said it wouldn't matter much. He, however, feels that India's fifth bowler, Shardul Thakur, could have a huge role to play in favorable conditions. Nehra added:
"Having five bowlers are always a big plus for any team. And in these conditions, who is your fifth bowler? Shardul Thakur. The way these conditions are, and the type of bowler Shardul Thakur is, he can get a lot of help here. We saw in England he bowls the out-swing well. And how the game has gone here, Shardul Thakur can have a big role. But whether you have five bowlers or four, you just have to bowl well."
98 overs of play is scheduled for tomorrow to make up for some of the lost time. Proceedings will resume at 1:30 PM IST.