Indian cricketers had an incredible start to their last Test series in South Africa, which is something they will want to repeat as South Africa vs India takes a jump start. South Africa was 12 for 3 after 29 balls on opening morning in Cape Town, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the rampage. Virat Kohli has been India’s Test captain for three years at that time. His squad had won every match at home and in Sri Lanka and the West Indies with aplomb. After making a strong initial impression, they were now about to embark on a series of tours that would put their abilities to the test.

Nevertheless, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and debutant Jasprit Bumrah showed not only their obvious skill but also a sense of naivete, making numerous errors in length and line in their over-eagerness to pick up wickets and 12 for 3 eventually turned into 286, a winning first-innings total on a Newlands surface that was smooth from start to finish.

This uncontrolled spirit permeated the remainder of that South Africa trip and the subsequent tour of England. Both the Johannesburg and Nottingham Tests went India’s way, but they fell short in the other six, frequently from promising or even dominating situations. South Africa and England also had world-class bowlers, but their experience with home conditions resulted in superior control over longer periods.

Instead of wickets, pulls, and cover drives, we witness this: India bowled stump-to-stump lines with strong leg-side fields, and they sometimes stray too straight and give up a single or, in a few instances, a boundary off a leg glance.

It was a period of play in which India let up 19 runs in 8.3 overs to two set batsmen – England was 77 for 0 at the start of the day – in strong batting conditions. They were patiently waiting for an opportunity, believing that it would present itself, and making every effort to guarantee that they had complete control of the match when it did.

It seemed as if India had taken a breather from its tumultuous start to 2018

This is the greatest jump India has made as a Test squad since they toured South Africa in 2017-18. In addition to their meticulous preparation, Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun devised a 21st-century version of leg theory five months before their 2020-21 tour of Australia, while R Ashwin became “obsessed” with Steven Smith for roughly six months.

There is a huge difference between the Shami of 2018 and the Shami of 2021, for example.  Due to his increased fitness and better-groomed bowling motion, he is less prone to go off the rails by mistake and more inclined to do it on purpose, having learned from his successes and become more patient and trusting of his ways.

Because of their better depth, India can rest their senior fast bowlers whenever feasible, while still being able to field a four-man attack whenever necessary, without a huge decrease in quality between their new-ball bowlers and the second change.

However, just like every tour, this one starts with difficulties. The loss of Ravindra Jadeja will put India’s capacity to field five bowlers to the test; it remains to be seen whether they have faith in Ashwin and Shardul Thakur’s lower-order abilities enough to do so. It’s imperative that if they don’t, they find a method to control the strain of four bowlers without sacrificing South Africa’s batsmen’ pressure, which will be difficult.

Rohit Sharma, the team’s leading run-scorer in 2021, is out of the batting lineup. There was a time in 2017-18 when all three of these players were under the age of 30; today they are all over the age of 33 and have averaged in the 20s and one century between them in the previous two years.

Rahul Dravid and Paras Mhambrey, the new coaches, have failed to build the kind of rapport with the players that Shastri and Arun had during their time in charge. The captain’s relationship with his cricket board is at an all-time low since he is now a captain in just one format.

A Test series is, at its core, a duel between two bowling attacks, and South Africa has yet to make the necessary shift from Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, and Morne Morkel. An injury to Anrich Nortje’s hip has also cost them. However, if you compare the current South Africa assault to the one that began the previous home series against India: Philander (Steyn), Morkel (Rabada), Ngidi (Ngidi), and Olivier, you’ll find that Rabada is still very powerful.

Indian bowlers have a wide range of talent and variation, as well as the experience that comes with playing and winning Tests in practically every corner of the globe. Their best-ever chance of winning a Test series in South Africa, then, may be their greatest motivation.