Virat Kohli consoles dejected Aiden Markram after being dismissed on 94

The 2nd Test between India and South Africa has been a highly trending topic in the last 24 hours. There have been so many talks about the pitch. Faf du Plessis was disappointed with the pitch and felt that it was browner than usual. Virat Kohli felt that the pitch was lively. And, the groundsman hopes that the game lasts for more than 3 days. Team India has gone into the game with three changes much to the disappointment of fans and experts. South Africa have had to make one forced change to replace the injured Dale Steyn.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar have given South Africa a wonderful start to their innings. This was something they seriously missed out on in the Cape Town test.

Markram dismissed in 90s

Aiden Markram deserved all the praise after his innings on day-1. He was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin on 94 missing out on a terrific century. He has had a terrific run in test cricket so far and averages 73.29. Kohli gave Markram a short send-off after he was dismissed. He hailed the youngster for his impeccable knock and shared words of wisdom with him.

Speaking of Ashwin who turned the ball square, he said “We didn’t expect there to be so much assistance for him. Ashwin was difficult to face. He is difficult to face on a flat wicket as well, so it did work out well for him I suppose. He still had to bowl well so you need to give him some credit. It will be interesting to see if the pitch will get harder and if it will continue to spin like it did, or if it spun like that because of the grass covering. We’ll see in the next couple of days.” Markram stated that playing a world-class bowler Ashwin is a welcome challenge.

Also, he said he was disappointed on missing out another century and felt that South Africa shouldn’t have lost as many wickets in the final session.

The kind gesture from Virat would do any youngster a world of good. That kind of words from the opposition captain will up his morale. It would have surely helped him feel better. He will be motivated to do better in the second innings.