IND vs SA: After getting a drubbing in the first Test against South Africa, India would be up against history in the 2nd Test at Newlands in Cape Town. The Men in Blue have been playing Test matches in Cape Town since 1993 but have not been able to win any of the six matches that they have played here. Only twice they have been able to secure a draw, while have gone down four times at the picturesque venue.
India will hope to begin the New Year on a high note that will salvage their pride after being 1-0 down. However, the India vs South Africa New Year Test has a change in timings. The first Test in Centurion started at 1:30 PM IST and 10 AM local time every day. But the second Test will commence at 2 PM IST and 10:30 AM local time every day from January 3 onwards.
Traditionally, the Tests in Cape Town begin at 10:30 AM local time. The sun sets late in the South African capital - Cape Town and there is bright daylight till about 8 PM.
India train hard ahead of second Test
The Indian team was seen training hard in the nets two days prior to the Test on January 3. Virat Kohli took a left-arm pacer's simulation to counter the attack of young gun Nandre Burger. The Proteas star picked seven wickets in the opening Test. Shreyas Iyer was also facing a barrage of bouncers in the practice session to counter that type of bowling in the Test match.
Mukesh Kumar was also sweating in the practice session and is likely to come in for someone like Prasidh Krishna or Shardul Thakur.
India lost the first Test by an innings and 32 runs. KL Rahul scored a spectacular century but apart from him, no one contributed well with the bat as the visitors made 245. South Africa, in reply, were led to 408 on the back of a marvellous ton by Dean Elgar. In the second innings, the visitors were reduced to just 131 with Kohli top-scoring at 76.
