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Team India leg spinner Kuldeep Yadav has opened up about the environment and mood in the dressing room after South Africa dominated the second day of the ongoing second and final Test at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.South Africa posted 489 on the board in the first innings after Senuran Muthusamy hammered his maiden Test century, and Marco Jansen played a vital knock on Day 2. Team India bowlers struggled to wrap up the innings, as the visitors added 242 more runs, putting them in a commanding position.
After Day 2 concluded, Kuldeep stated during the press conference that India needs to bat well tomorrow. When he was asked about the chances of winning the Guwahati Test, Kuldeep commented that they are not thinking too much and will take the game by session by session. "Obviously, first of all we just batted for like 6 overs you know, we have to bat really well tomorrow and then we'll see and every session is very important, we'll take it session by session and as of now we're not thinking too much about the day 4 or day 5 you know, you have to bat well and if you bat for 5 sessions, we'll be in a good position to decide what to do next and about the bad light, I mean I can't answer in that way so I don't know, I mean that's why we're starting so early, 9 o'clock and still managing 85-86 overs," Kuldeep said. Kuldeep opened up that he was not thinking too much about the spin. He added that he was looking to use the angles and try to create chances against the South African batters. "No, all good, I mean for that I have to be the captain and yeah I mean I'm very happy with whatever number I bowled you know, we got 4-5 bowlers more and everyone bowled really well you know, so you have to keep changing and you can't just keep bowling from one end you know, I mean so I haven't had any issue with that you know, I bowled 30 overs, 30 overs is good for any wrist spinner," Yadav said. "Obviously, I wasn't thinking too much about the spin, like obviously everyone knows it was very good wicket to bat on. I was just trying to use the angles and try to beat them in drift and pace as well, just varying my pace and sometimes they took their chances but obviously they converted into big runs as well. So, my thought personally, I wasn't trying too much but just trying to vary my pace and using the drift," the leg spinner said. Coming back to the match, South Africa started their day at 247-6. The visitors strengthened their control on Day 2 after a wicketless first session. The visitors reached 316-6 with Muthusamy (56*) and Verreynne (38*) frustrating India with a steady, patient partnership. Resuming after Tea, Ravindra Jadeja removed Kyle Verreynne for 45. Jansen then joined Muthuswamy, and the two started attacking the Indian bowlers. Muthusamy reached his maiden Test century off 192 balls. He became the third South African to score a Test hundred from No. 7 or lower against India, while Jansen brought up his fifty in 53 deliveries as the duo added an unbeaten 94-run stand by lunch, reaching 428/7. After the Tea, Siraj dismissed Muthuswamy for 109. While Jasprit Bumrah managed to scalp Simon Harmer's wicket to get South Africa down to nine wickets at 462. Jansen continued his aggressive play from the other end. It was finally Kuldeep who ended Jansen's stay at the crease. Jansen scored 93, and the visitors made 489. At stumps on Day 2, India are at 9/0 in 6.1 overs with Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (7) and KL Rahul (2) at the crease. (ANI)
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