Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn SLAM Rishabh Pant for his ‘brain-fade’ with India in trouble, says, ‘You can’t…’

New Delhi: India find themselves in deep trouble in the second Test against South Africa at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. On a favourable batting surface, the team India suffered a batting collapse due to poor shot selection, while Marco Jansen exploited the short ball brilliantly as he ended up with a six-wicket haul.

After being comfortably placed at 95 for 1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 off 97) looking solid, the innings fell apart rapidly as India lost six wickets for just 27 runs. They crashed to 122 for 7 within the first half-hour of the second session.

Rishabh Pant was dismissed cheaply in a tense situation

The most frustrating moment came when skipper Rishabh Pant was dismissed cheaply in a tense situation. Knowing Pant often rushes down the pitch to pacers, Jansen pulled his length back even more. Pant charged out for a wild cross-batted swing, got a faint edge, and Kyle Verreynne completed the catch behind the wickets.

Anil Kumble and Dale Steyn criticised the manned of Pant’s dismissal

Anil Kumble and Dale Steyn strongly criticised the manner of Pant’s dismissal, “Today’s batters will say, ‘this is my natural game.’ Then there is a situation and you need to understand it. As far as the opposition’s point of view, as long as Rishabh Pant is there out in the middle, South Africa bowlers won’t be comfortable. They know he can take the game away from you in a flash. You can’t do that after facing just 10 balls,” Anil Kumble said on Star Sports.

“It’s not like this was a Kolkata pitch where every ball bowled on a good length had his name written on it. It’s not like that. It’s a good surface, just hang in there. You will get the loose ball. It’s not like Marco Jansen is going to bowl 20 overs on the trot. He is going to bowl one spell. You have got to hang in there. This is Test match cricket. Just bat session after session. This is a pitch where you have to bat long.”

“You can’t win a Test in one over,” Steyn said. Earlier, he posted on X: “That is just a brainfade shot.”

Kuldeep and Sundar put together 72-run stand for eighth wicket

India’s latest rescue act came from Washington Sundar (48 off 92) and a gritty Kuldeep Yadav (19 off 134), who put together a 72 -run stand for the eighth wicket to prevent further damage. However, with two days still remaining, the prospect of a 0–2 series defeat looms large.

The pitch offered little assistance to bowlers, yet Jansen (6/48 in 17 overs), with his 6-foot-8 frame, generated awkward bounce that unsettled the Indian batters, who only made things worse with poor shot selection.