If 23 wickets fall in one day of a Test match, only two short of the all-time record, there are bound to be question marks. It cannot just be the poor batting or great bowling, there has to be something more than that. And if those 23 wickets fall on the first day of a Test then the questions will be more. That is what is happening after the first day of the second Test between India and South Africa in Cape Town on Wednesday.
First, South Africa were all out for a mere 55 and then the Indian cricket team got dismissed for 153. South Africa ended the day on 62/3. In all 23 wickets fell. The maximum number of wickets lost on Day 1 of a Test is 25 and that happened in an Ashes Test back in 1902.
Former Indian cricket team star Sanjay Manjrekar was asked about the reason on why such a dramatic day unfolded and his answer was quite straightforward.
"It's got a lot to do with the pitch. It's got a bit to do with new-age batting. Maybe nor focussing on defences, understandably so, because now Test cricket, if you look at it Test cricket third format when it comes to priority. When there is bit of life in the pitch, these things happen. It was almost like the bowlers were wearing a cape in Cape Town the way they bowled," Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
"In this age of T20 Cricket, you can understand, not too much time spent by batters perfecting their Test match game. If we were born at this time, I would actually be focussing on white ball cricket because that has become the thing. Our time Test match was the main format. We focussed all our energies into that."
Proteas suffered a hammering from Indian bowlers and the entire team was back in pavilion for 55 in 23.2 overs. South Africa's previous lowest total against India was 79 in the match played in Nagpur Stadium in 2015.
New Zealand had the record for the lowest total against India when they were all out on 62 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in December 2021.
South Africa's lowest Test score since re-entry was 73 against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2018.
Mohammed Siraj led the Indian attack and his lethal bowls scalped six wickets in his nine overs.
It was his first five-wicket haul in South Africa and third overall in Tests.
The pacer bagged crucial wickets of Markram, Dean Elgar, Tony de Zorzi, David Bedingham, the dangerous Marco Jansen and Kyle Verreynne.
The Indian pacer made ball talk after South Africa captain Dean Elgar opted to bat first. Jasprit Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar each grabbed two wickets each.
For South Africa, Kyle Verreynne scored 15 while David Bedingham scored 12.
India scored 153 runs after a dramatic collapse and South Africa were 62 for the loss of three wickets in their second innings.
With ANI inputs