Virat Kohli and his men stood tall throughout day 2 ands thrashed every last drop of hope of the hapless South African bowling attack as they put forth a dominating 601 for five before declaring the innings. The skipper scored his maiden 250-plus score on the second day of the ongoing second Test against South Africa in Pune while Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja scored their respective fifties to help India pile up the agony on South Africa. And after the day's play, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said that the fifth-wicket partnership of Kohli and Jadeja made the total of 600 look easy on a "450-500 runs wicket".
Jadeja and Kohli added 225 runs to the scoreboard for the fifth wicket on day 2 during which the Indian skipper scored a record-scripting seventh double century before converting it into his maiden 250 in Test cricket, while the all-rounder scored his 12th Test fifty.
"The way we batted (took us to a score in excess of 600). There was assistance for fast bowlers, Mayank batted well. It was important to play that one hour really well in the morning. We were thinking about 500+. The manner in which Virat and Jaddu batted, it looked so easy from the outside. I don't think it's a 600+ wicket, it's a 450-500 runs wicket," said Rahane at the end of day 2.
Earlier in the day, Rahane had combined with Kohli to stitch an imperious 178-run stand for the fourth wicket, the highest for the wicket in the Test rivalry. Rahane added 59 runs to the partnership before being dismissed by Keshav Maharaj.
"We (himself and Kohli) enjoy each others' company. We communicate really well whenever we bat together. We knew we were one batsman short and we had to get that partnership going. That partnership between us was really important," Rahane added.
India ended day 2 on a dominating note with the ball as well as Umesh Yadav picked two while Mohammed Shami bagged one in South Africa's troubling journey to 36 for three in 15 overs.
"Pretty pleasant here, Vizag was really hot. Bowlers will really enjoy. If we can bowl in right areas, we'll win by a good margin. Fast bowlers have good assistance if they bowl in the right areas. The ball is turning, Ashwin and Jadeja can bowl on any track," Rahane concluded.
