South Africa vs India 2018: 5 reasons why India lost the Test series
India's tour of South Africa went from bad to worse. South Africa beat India at the Centurion by 135 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Earlier, India lost the first Test at Cape Town by 72 runs.
With only 7 wickets in hand, India needed 252 runs on day 5 to level the series 1-1. Parthiv Patel and Rohit Sharma started the proceedings for India on day 5 but the visitors could only add 116 runs and were all out for 151. South Africa won the game by 135 runs and with it, the series as well. Lungi Ngidi was the star of the show for South Africa with 6 wickets in the fourth innings.
With 1 match remaining in the series, India will have to play for pride and avoid a washout. The third Test starts at Johannesburg on 24th of January and Virat Kohli has less than a week to turn things around.
On that note, let's take a look at the reasons why India lost the Test series:
#5 Dropped catches and poor running between the wickets
It is needless to say, "catches win matches", and yet, it seems like, the Indian team did not understand the importance of this. In a game of low scores, more often than not, the result is decided by one or two missed opportunities.
This was the case in the first Test at Cape Town. South Africa's Keshav Maharaj was dropped on 0 in the first innings of the first Test and the Proteas spinner went on to make a handy 35. In the third innings of the same Test, Elgar was dropped by Shami on 0 and the opener went on to make a useful 25. Those 60 runs were the difference between the two teams at Cape Town.
The second Test was even worse. Parthiv Patel dropped a couple of good chances created by Ashwin during South Africa's first innings. Parthiv was the culprit again in the Proteas' second innings as he failed to react to an easy opportunity produced by Jasprit Bumrah.
Also, the running between the wickets by India was dismal. India's best batsman was run out in both innings, and Hardik Pandya made a schoolboy error. Overall, it was a poor display by India at both Cape Town and Centurion.