'The guys were really clinical, and I think the way Dean led with the bat was phenomenal. He made sure he stayed in to a built partnerships with the other batters around him.'
It remains to be seen if Rishabh Pant retains his place in the team after his shocking dismissal at a crucial stage in the second innings of the second Test.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar feels Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane repaid the trust that was shown in them, adding it is easy to get excited by young talents but the team should continue showing faith in its senior players.
India coach Rahul Dravid admitted that there is a need to have a conversation with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant regarding his shot selection.
India's stand-in skipper KL Rahul also reserved praise for Shardul Thakur, who put an all-round performance in the game including a seven-wicket haul in the first innings.
South Africa need 122 runs to win with 8 wickets in hand.
South African batting consultant Justin Sammons hailed Dean Elgar's stubborn resistance against a fearsome Indian attack, saying the skipper's show with the bat will be key if the hosts have to win the Wanderers Test.
Middle-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara threw light on the fitness of skipper Virat Kohli, who missed the ongoing second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg due to back spasms, saying he is getting better.
Dean Elgar lived up to his reputation as a dogged, street-fighting batsman as he held the Indian bowling attack at bay, scoring a patient 46 off 121 balls.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between South Africa and India, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
South African umpire Allahudien Paleker is having a fine Test debut in the ongoing second match of the series against India at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, but very few know that his family has its roots in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
The second day of the second Test ended with India scoring 85 runs for the loss of two wickets.
South Africa batter Keegan Petersen says his team will look to keep India's lead under 200 in the second Test, as anything more will be difficult to chase on a pitch that is getting tougher by the day.
Shardul Thakur had spotted a crack in between back of length to good length area and was trying to hit that region to get the ball back into the right-handers.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between India and South Africa in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
His childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, says he never really had to do anything special to mould the driven all-rounder except for "working on his mental strength".
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar and team manager Khomotso Masubelele met match officials during the lunch break on Day 2 of the second Test, in Johannesburg, to discuss a questionable caught behind dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen.
The second India-South Africa Test began at the Imperial Wanderers in Johannesburg on Monday.
Mohammed Siraj was in pain after bowling the penultimate delivery of his fourth over during South Africa's innings on Day 1 of the second Test. He immediately felt his hamstring and later hobbled off the field along with the medical staff.
The 29-year-old, who signed a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire in 2019 only to return to the South African domestic circuit this season, returned figures of 3 for 64 as India were bowled out for 202 in 63.1 overs on Day 1 of the second Test, in Johannesburg, on Monday.
Ravichandran Ashwin termed India's first innings score as slightly below par on a "two-paced" Wanderers pitch, but added that it could be enough for their bowling arsenal to make a match of the second Test against South Africa.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the second Test between South Africa and India, in Johannesburg, on Monday.
India's skipper missed out on what would have been his 99th Test on the morning of the second match of the series against South Africa in Johannesburg, adding to an intriguing drama that is unfolding around him on an almost daily basis now.
The move was widely seen as an acknowledgement for his all-format consistency over the years.
Virat Kohli has upper back spasm, hopefully will recover for next Test: K L Rahul
India's formidably consistent match-winners have a date with history in the New Year when they take on an out-of-sorts South Africa in the second Test in Johannesburg from Monday in pursuit of a coveted first-ever series win in the Rainbow Nation.
Ashwin posted a video on his official YouTube channel, revisiting the history of The Wanderers
Virat Kohli started off the new year in the right earnest with a gruelling batting session during India's nets on Sunday.
For South Africa head coach Mark Boucher, wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock's sudden Test retirement is a shock.
India head coach Rahul Dravid conceded that his team needs to do better at maintaining over-rate after being docked one WTC point following the first Test against South Africa, in Centurion, though he felt "leeway" can be given in certain cases.
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar says he was initially "shocked" at Quinton de Kock's sudden retirement from Test cricket, but insisted that the team will take the setback in its stride and strive to level the ongoing series against India.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the second Test against South Africa, starting on January 3?
Legendary South Africa batter Hashim Amla says more "collective experience" in the Indian side was one of the key factors in the visiting side's comfortable victory in the series-opener at Centurion.
Victorious India will seek more of the same when the second Test against South Africa starts at The Wanderers on Monday, but for the home side there is much to ponder as they try to level the series at a ground where they have never beaten the visitors.
South Africa has lifted overnight curfew rules that were first imposed nearly two years ago, with officials saying the country may have passed the peak of its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, offering hope to other nations facing a surge in cases fuelled by the fast-moving Omicron variant.
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar also said the Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah will be a threat for the Proteas batters in the upcoming two matches.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim an emphatic 113-run victory just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
From a near impossible win at the Gabba with a second-string side to walloping a hapless South Africa in their own backyard, 2021 can easily go down in the annals as 'one of the greatest in Indian cricket', opener KL Rahul said.
India seamers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim victory by 113 runs just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
Better weather is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, but India will have to quicken the pace of their innings if they are to drive home their advantage.
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