Once again, India's batting came undone as they were hammered by an innings and 132 runs in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.
Put into bat in tough conditions, India were bowled out for 245 despite a century from K L Rahul (101) as none of the other batters could get past 40.
They fared even worse in their second essay as they were sent packing for 131 with Virat Kohli (76) scoring more than half of the runs.
The Indian bowlers, except for Jasprit Bumrah, struggled with control on a pitch offering assistance to fast bowlers as they allowed South Africa to post 408, with Dean Elgar stroking a career-best 185, while No 7 Marco Jansen looked relatively untroubled during his fluent knock of 84.
The key factor in India's flop show with the bat has been their top order. The top three -- Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill -- didn't last 15 overs in both innings, totalling only 55 runs between them in both innings combined.
Gill, who switched to No. 3 since the West Indies series in July, has struggled in his new position. In any case, his record in Tests is not good with 994 runs in 19 Tests at an average of 31.
At No. 3, Gill has scored 120 in six innings at an average of 24, without a single half-century as compared to his not-so-encouraging record as opener with 874 runs in 16 innings at an average of 32.
While he has been amazing with the bat in white ball cricket, Gill has struggled to adapt to Test cricket. Time is running out for the youngster, who tallied 258 runs in six Tests in 2023 -- including just one century (128) which came against Australia on a flat pitch in Ahmedabad in March.
Over the years, India have famously had some of their greats at No. 3 including Current Coach Rahul Dravid and the gritty Cheteshwar Pujara, who is sorely missed in conditions like South Africa where his trait of tiring out the bowlers with his dogged approach in tough conditions would have come in handy.
The openers haven't been in great form either. Rohit started the year with a bang, hitting 120 against Australia in Nagpur in February before he went seven innings without a fifty.
He returned to form in the West Indies in July, hitting 103, 80 and 57 in his three innings in the Caribbean.
And after a superb run with the bat in the ODI World Cup, Rohit failed in both innings of the Centurion Test, perishing for 5 and 0.
Jaiswal, 22, made a dream start to his Test career in the West Indies with a century on debut and a fifty in the next game, but he scored just 22 runs in Centurion as he fell caught behind to left-arm pacer Nandre Burger twice in the game.
If India are to bounce back, they will need the top three to lay a good foundation. It won't be a surprise if South Africa come up with another wicket tailor made for the seamers and hence Gill and Jaiswal will need to tighten their technique and look to bat for time and not for runs especially early on.
With Gill struggling to translate his form to Test cricket, India have the option of trying out Bengal's run machine Abhimanyu Easwaran, who boasts of a good record in first class cricket with 6,585 runs in 89 games at an average of 47, with 22 centuries and 56 fifties including a best of 233.
Easwaran was the seventh-highest scorer in last season's Ranji Trophy with 798 runs in eight games, while hitting 154 for the Rest of India in the Irani Cup match against Madhya Pradesh in March.
Virat Kohli was the only batter apart from K L Rahul who held his head high at Centurion as he showed great patience against a quality attack in tough conditions. He spent more than 90 minutes at the crease in the first innings and more than two hours in the second, but lack of support meant he could not guide India to safety.
Shreyas Iyer's problem has been the short ball, but he was bowled by incoming full length deliveries in both innings for a total of 37 runs.
Rahul, batting in the middle order for the first time in Tests, adjusted to the role suprebly with a brilliant century on the opening day which helped India saved the blushes after they were reduced to 121/6 at one stage. Having Rahul taken over the wicket-keeping role has afforded India the flexibility of going in with five specialist bowlers.
India will need to work hard on their bowling in the next few days ahead of the second and final Test. Bumrah was exceptional with 4/69 while Mohammed Siraj bowled well in patches. Debutant Prasidh Krishna struggled to make a mark and the experienced Shardul Thakur also failed to live up to expectations.
India's gamble of trying out white ball specialist Prasidh, who had featured in just 12 first class games, backfired. The Karnataka fast bowler struggled with his consistency, either bowling too short or too straight and was carted for 93 runs in his 20 overs.
Similarly, Shardul bowled a lot of overpitched deliveries and was taken apart, to concede 101 runs in his 19 overs.
The experienced Ravichandran Ashwin did a good holding job, conceding 41 runs in 19 overs, but is likely to lose his place to Ravindra Jadeja, who has been ruled fit after missing the series opener with back spasms.
India are likely to leave out Thakur, who plays as the seam bowling all-rounder, and could compensate for it by bringing in Jadeja in place of Ashwin to add some batting strength to their lower order.
Not that Jadeja is better with the bat than Ashwin, but the former is India's preferred choice as the lone spinner whenever playing overseas in the last few years.
Mukesh Kumar could be in line make his Test comeback in Prasidh's place. Mukesh, 30, enjoys a good record in first class cricket with 151 wickets in 40 games and has been instrumental in Bengal making it to the Ranji Trophy final twice in three years.
Mukesh also left a mark on Rohit during a session in the nets in Centurion on Saturday, giving enough indications he could make it to the playing eleven for the second Test starting on Wednesday, January 3.
Even though the Indian team has backed their players in recent years, not benching them after one poor performance, such was Prasidh's struggle with the ball it is difficult to see them gamble yet again with the struggling pacer.
Shardul also sustained a blow on the shoulder while batting in the nets on Saturday. Even if he is not injured, he could lose his place to Avesh Khan, who has been added to the Indian squad for the second Test.
Madhya Pradesh pacer Avesh, who has 154 wickets in 39 first class games, boosted his chances with a five-wicket haul (5/54) for India 'A' in the four-day second unofficial Test against South Africa 'A'.
South Africa will rely on their pace attack to counter the Indian batting line-up like they did in Centurion. Kagiso Rabada single-handedly ripped apart the Indians on the opening day, taking 5/59, while debutant left-arm pacer Nandre Burger troubled the Indians with his swing as he took seven wickets in the match.
Gerald Coetzee has been ruled out of the second Test with injury, but the Proteas have a capable replacement in Lungi Ngidi. Keshav Maharaj could also be in line to play after South Africa played an all-pace attack in the opening game.
Captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out with injury but South Africa have enough firepower in their batting line-up which includes several in-form players like Dean Elgar and David Bedingham, while Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi and Keegan Petersen can be a handful if they get going.
India were the clear favourites before the start of the series but following their lacklustre showing in the opening game, not many will fancy them making a comeback in the must-win game in Cape Town.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill/Abhimanyu Easwaran, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing for the second Test against South Africa?
Please select your team from the list below and do post your playing XI in the message board below:
