INDIA TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2018

Virat Kohli plays spotter for Hardik Pandya

by Vishaal Loganathan • Last updated on

Kohli and Pandya worked in good harmony © BCCI

Over 55.2. Lungi Ngidi to Hardik Pandya. Hardik Pandya spots the away swinger, walks across and then leaves the ball.

Over 57.5. Lungi Ngidi to Hardik Pandya. Pandya spots the inswinger, stays in his crease and nails the straight drive for four down the ground.

India's batsmen, barring Virat Kohli, struggled against the skill and the challenges posed by South Africa's bowlers on day two of the second Test. Vernon Philander, Lungi Ngidi, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada were all getting some movement, both in and away, to constantly trouble the batsmen.

Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel had both fallen in the last session, succumbing to inward and outward movement respectively. Hardik Pandya, who came in at the fall of Parthiv's wicket, however, seemed to have the bowlers and their variations all worked out. He walked across to Morne Morkel and Lungi Ngidi to counter their away swinger. However, when they tried to bluff him with the one that came in, Pandya stayed in the crease and played it out with ease, too.

Pandya was seemingly second-guessing the bowlers, and doing a fine job at that too. It threw the bowlers off their lines and lengths, with a number of deliveries either going harmlessly over his head, or way wide of the off stump.

But behind Pandya's success at countering the South African pacers was a secret. He had help from the other end - Virat Kohli - who was in the midst of a superb innings.

Kohli had seen all his batting partners struggle against the moving ball, so he ensured he let Pandya know which side the ball would reverse. If the shiny side was away from the batsman, meaning the ball would reverse away from Pandya, Kohli had his bat in the left hand while he was at the non-striker's end, indicating that it would swing further to the offside. When the bowler got one to reverse in, Kohli would switch the bat to his right hand, giving Pandya an early advantage of knowing that it would come in to him.

This helped Pandya jump outside of offstump to play the outswingers, and stay on his guard for the ones swinging in.

This was once again on display in the 61st over of the match, when Pandya was facing Morkel. On ball No. 60.2, Kohli was seen holding the bat to the left, and Pandya, on cue, walks across the stumps. Soon after that ball, Pandya tells Kohli of the troubles he's facing spotting which side the shine was on. With light fading, Pandya tells Kohli 'ball kaala kar diya,' (the ball has gotten dark). Kohli however assures his batting partner that he has got his back. Wohi mujhe dikh raha hai, main bataoonga (I can see that, I will inform you).

Two balls later, for the inswinger, Kohli has his bat in his right hand, and Pandya stays where he is and defends it with ease.

At one point, Kohli even used his feet to send a message to Pandya. Outswinger - left leg out; Inswinger - right leg out.

Kohli had been batting on a different plane compared to the rest of the Indian batters, scoring a fluent 85 not out even as the line-up crumbled around him. Quite understandable then that the Indian captain was able to see clearly what the bowlers were trying. Even while he was batting, he made it a point to be in Pandya's ears about what the bowlers were trying to do.

In the 60th over, bowled by Philander, Kohli was informing Hardik what Philander was bowling at him.

Kohli: Yahan pe change kiya [He changed it here]

Hardik: Andar ke liye leke hi bhaagaa tha [He ran in with the one that would originally come in]

Virat: Jo leke niklega agar change karega toh uska opposite hai [The side of the ball he runs in with, if he changes, it will go the opposite way]

Hardik: Main bataaun aapko? [Should I tell you on spotting?]

Virat: Nahin nahin, mujhe dikha, main bataa raha hun.. [No, no.. I picked it, I am just telling you]

Even with Kohli following the ball like a hawk and shooting off messages to Pandya, there was a slip up. Off the first ball of the 61st over, Kohli has his bat in the left hand. Morkel, however, bowls the one that slides in. Thankfully for India, Pandya stands his ground and plays it off his normal guard. Dismissal averted, he and Kohli get together immediately after the ball and have a laugh about it. It was a ball they missed, a small blip to their plan that had worked well so far.

Non-strikers helping out their batting partners is, of course, not new. They constantly talk about which way the ball moves, and what field changes are taking place to help the batsman out. The plan to figure out which side the ball might move is not new either.

Sachin Tendulkar had revealed during an event how he and Rahul Dravid hatched a plan to keep New Zealand, and particularly Chris Cairns, at bay by using the same plan that Kohli and Pandya did on day 2.

"I was batting with Rahul Dravid. The ball was reverse swinging and Cairns was beating us two-three times. We were sort of clueless because we couldn't see the shine. I told Rahul 'I have an idea'. I said 'I am closer to the bowler and when he is walking back to the run up I would be watching him closely and the ball. Whichever side is shiny, I will hold the bat in that hand. If he is going to bowl an out-swinger the bat will be in my left hand. If he is going to bowl an in-swinger, the bat is in my right hand at the non-striker's end," Tendulkar had said.

India still find themselves deep in trouble at 183 for 5, adrift of South Africa's score by 152 runs. South Africa would surely have seen past their plan by now and will come up with something different when the sides meet again on day 3, but until then Pandya will have Kohli to thank for, for being able to see off a tricky phase.

© Cricbuzz

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