India vs South Africa, 3rd Test: Virat Kohli’s knock was terrific, says Vikram Rathour | Cricket News – Times of India

India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour was quick to admit at the end of the first day’s play that the batsmen could have done better at Newlands after winning the toss on a sunny morning. “Another 60-80 runs. . . a total touching 300.”
That wasn’t to be as India’s top and middle-order, barring Virat Kohli’s pensive 201-ball 79 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s relatively pacy 77-ball 43, succumbed to just 101 runs. That included Rishabh Pant’s 50-ball 27, which further meant the remaining eight batsmen fell for a collective 74 runs.

That was dismal by all standards and the onus now lies on the bowlers again to bring India back into the game.
India’s middle-order is suffering a crisis of sorts and barring Kohli – despite his struggle to get to a century – no other batsman has shown the confidence to walk out there and deliver.
As Rathour admitted on Tuesday, “soft dismissals towards the latter part of the innings” hurt India. “We were below par today,” Rathour added, and the number of times this has been said lately is rising by the day.
The batting coach also conceded how “South Africa were terrific with the ball” and rightly so. The ball that got Pujara, and the one that got Kohli, were both impeccable ones from Mar- co Jansen and Kagiso Rabada. In that context again, Kohli’s knock wasn’t just the saving grace but also a reminder that the batsman is close to hitting top form once again.
“There’s never been a concern about his (Kohli’s) batting. He’s been batting really well in the nets too. Initially they bowled really well to him – bowling wider – and that’s how he responded, not scoring off 89 deliveries. The way he dealt with it was terrific,” Rathour said.
Yet, this match has only begun and there’s another innings left for India to go through and set South Africa a healthy target if they expect to win this series and make history. For that to happen, India’s No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 will have to show a lot more mettle than they’ve been managing so far.