If india Can Bat Through The Next Two Days, They'll Be In A Strong Position : Anil Kumble

India : Speaking on ‘Cricket Live’, JioStar expert Anil Kumble discussed on what to expect from Day 3 of India -South Africa second test. He said “I certainly expect a little more wear and tear, and I’m sure the spinners will come into play tomorrow. That said, it will still be a good surface to bat on—runs won’t be hard to come by. The South African batters showed today that you can play your shots, and Marco Jansen proved that by taking the aggressive route. For India, this is a must-win Test. They’ve had six tough sessions, and they’ll be thinking about how they can bat through the next two days. If India can control the third and fourth day, they’ll put themselves in a position to think about the second innings.”

Kumble spoke about Yashasvi’s batting approach,''Yashasvi will have a role, but not necessarily right at the start. He needs to settle in, get used to the conditions, and adjust to the pace of the pitch. It’ll be on the slower side, not as bouncy or uneven as Kolkata—so the ball should come on nicely. Marco Jansen will get extra bounce because of his height—we saw that with KL Rahul, who was hit on the glove first ball. If Yashasvi can get through the first 30–45 minutes and negotiate Jansen’s early spell, we’ll see the dominant version of Jaiswal we know. He’ll certainly look to take on the spinners, especially the two left-arm options.”

Speaking on Marco Jansen’s batting on Day 2, Kumble explained, “It’s never easy when the lower order contributes like that. Marco Jansen completely took the game away from India in that session, especially with the way he looked to hit sixes. He clearly trusts his batting; he’s carrying more than four bats, and he definitely needs a long blade. He was outstanding against the spinners and even took on the short ball. Perhaps towards the end he got a bit lazy, trusting his timing too much while looking for singles to get to his hundred. But it was a fantastic innings, and his partnership with Muthusamy ensured South Africa didn’t just cross 400—they went close to 500.”

Speaking on ‘Cricket Live’, JioStar expert Dale Steyn on India’s bowling effort on Day 2, “I thought they bowled well up to a point, but at times they didn’t move away from their original plan. They stuck with Plan A for too long and didn’t really switch to a Plan B or C. At moments, they were a bit too defensive—when a batter walked in, there was a long-on, long-off, and deep square, which allowed the batter to settle with easy singles before India brought the field back in. They could have been more attacking early on and tried to force the batters to hit into one side of the field. They kept bowling straight at the stumps, which opened up both sides—the off and the leg. In Kolkata, that plan worked because the pitch demanded it, but on a flatter wicket like this, they needed something different.”