Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first in spite of a greener turf at Wanderers. Ajinkya Rahane, who was not included in the playing XI in the last two tests, returned to the side along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. As it was the pitch most convenient to the pacers, India decided to go with no spinners.
But the Indian openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay once again got off to a wrong start with Vernon Philander striking early.
While Cheteshwar Pujara had very fond memories of the Wanderers, his latest outing at the famous venue was no less than a nightmare. Pujara had walked out to bat under immense pressure after managing just 49 runs in the last four innings, and hopes of regaining his form looked bleak when he walked out to bat on the ground.
Skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara settled the innings with Kohli doing the scoring and his partner just sticking it out in the middle.
With the Proteas pacers not providing even an inch to relax, Pujara could not open his account for the first 52 balls and when he did it on the following delivery, his teammates could not stop themselves from applauding.
The skipper got an early lifeline with Philander dropping him on 11 after he played a poor shot. However, Kohli was more or less managing to play the tough deliveries, Pujara was having a hard time against the disciplined bowling. Even commentator Gavaskar got excited when Pujara flicked Ngidi to score his first run. In fact, he was also smiling as the players saw the funny side of it.
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Look at the reaction of Team India’s members after Puajara scored his first runs after 54 balls. #SAvIND #SAvsIND @virendersehwag pic.twitter.com/rUAX0KGn6L
— Khurram Siddiquee (@iamkhurram12) January 24, 2018
Earlier, he would have been dismissed for a duck had South Africa reviewed a decision when Lungi Ngidi had struck him on the pads. Replays showed that Pujara was out.
Currently, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara are batting carefully without giving any chance for the South African pacers and facing them with much-needed confidence.