(Cricket news) India had a very successful boxing day as they are 272 for 3 at the end of day 1. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. India has taken a very big gamble by playing only 6 pure batters followed by Shardul Thakur and Ravichandran Ashwin. There was no place for Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari as Ajinkya Rahane kept his place. South Africa handed a debut to tall left arm seamer Marco Jansen instead of going for the in-form Duanne Olivier.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gave the blues a perfect start to the tour with a 117 run opening partnership. Later, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane accompanied Rahul as India steadied their way to a good score at the end of day 1. As good as KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal batted in the early parts of the innings, it is safe to say that the South African bowling was not up to the mark. Kagiso Rabada looked completely unlike himself as he kept missing his line with very less pace than usual. Debutant Jansen was hammered by the Indians throughout the day as he couldn't find his shape and consistency. He did manage to get a few good balls in but always bowled a loosener to release the batter of any pressure. Jansen did produce an edge of Agarwal when he was on 36 but the difficult catch was dropped by Quinton de Kock. The openers left the balls outside off stump really well and also punished the bad balls.
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Agarwal played the aggressor during the opening partnership as he kept collecting boundaries with his powerful stroke play. He reached his half century just after lunch in 89 deliveries. The Proteas turned it on in the 2nd session as they began to find their lines much better but the Indians continued to maintain a good scoring rate. Lungi Ngidi finally got a perfect ball to jag back into Agarwal's pads when he was on 60 and got the wicket after a successful review. He wasn't done then as he got rid of Cheteshwar Pujara on a golden duck in the very next ball to turn the game on it's head. Ngidi's ball hit Pujara's bat and pad and went straight to forward short leg.
The Indian captain then joined his newly appointed deputy and the pair stitched an 82 run partnership. There was some intricate stroke play in the process as India were 157/2 at tea. It was going well after tea but Kohli decided to throw his bat on Ngidi's loosener way outside off which took a thick outside edge straight to first slip. Former vice captain Ajinkya Rahane walked out to bat under a lot of pressure. Rahane didn't show any pressure and looked in fine touch as he took on the bowling by putting away the boundary balls. KL Rahul on the other hand was silently going on about his business as he reached triple figures. He became only the 2nd Indian opener after Wasim Jaffer to score a ton in South Africa.
The day ended with India 272 for 3 with Rahul and Rahane unbeaten on 122 and 40. India will be looking at 500 considering the position they are in. The pitch will get quicker as the days progress which could mean that India's decision to trust their 6 batters and play 5 bowlers is paying off.
