Team India lost the Test series once again in South Africa after the Proteas defeated Virat Kohli’s men by seven wickets in the third game in Cape Town. This was a golden opportunity for the Men in Blue to register their first series win there after winning the first game but they could not take it. In the third game, even after having a lead, apart from a special hundred from Rishabh Pant, no other batsman could really stand up to fight the South African bowling attack. Team India captain Virat Kohli says it is a defeat which is a tough one to take and blames the batting collapses of his team.

“We played well in the first game to win. South Africa bounced back really well in the second match. They managed the situation well and carried on the momentum into the third game as well. There was some lapse of concentration from us as well in key moments. Thought the Proteas performed better in those key moments. They totally deserved the win the game and the series. One of the challenges that we have faced touring abroad is to capitalize on momentum when it is on our side.”

The 33-year old then went on to pinpoint the reason Team India lost the series to South Africa. “Have lost matches at times due to 30-45 minutes of cricket where we have batted badly. The opposition bowlers bowled well in this series. We have not been consistent. We have had too many batting collapses. Of course, batting has been the reason. There is no doubt about that. Their bowlers were just better in terms of their execution and applying pressure. Batting is certainly something to be looked at.”

Let us look at the major 3 reasons behind the Test series defeat for Team India-

Batting Collapse by Team India

Even the Indian captain accepted the fact that there were too many batting collapses his team is having and it is not good enough to win matches. In both innings in Cape Town, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant ran out of partners and that cost India to put a fighting total. Things would have been different if they could put up 70-80 more runs on the board and it needed just another batter to stay on the crease for a little more time.

Dean Elgar’s leadership

The Proteas captain led the team from the front and with the bat, he stood up strong in difficult situations and put up a healthy score on the board when his team needed it most. His bowling changes were spot on. Rabada, Ngidi and Jansen really thrived under his leadership and this pace attack really caused problems for Indian batting. Elgar’s knock of 96 in the second match was one of the turning points for his team in the series and some other healthy knocks from other batters were simply the difference between both the teams.

The height difference between both pace-attacks

The variable bounce on South African pitches helped the home side’s pacers more and the tall fast bowlers got more purchase from the surfaces. Likes of Marco Jansen and Ngidi took the most from the pitches and bowled some good short pitch deliveries. Even some good length stuff was causing troubles for Indian batters. On the other hand, Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah tried to bowl on the same length but did not get enough bounce.