Day 4: South Africa need 384 runs to win, India 9 wickets away
Visakhapatnam: Rohit Sharma smashed another hundred and a plethora of records as India set an improbable 395-run target for South Africa in first Test which is headed for an exciting final day.
Revelling in his new role, Rohit effortlessly walked his way into the record books as he scored 127 off 149 balls, following his 176, to become the first ever batsman in the history of Test cricket to score two hundreds in his opening 'debut'.
In a debatable decision, India batted late into the final session on day four before declaring their second innings at 323 for four in 67 overs, giving themselves 45 minutes on day four and the whole of day five to bowl out South Africa.
In the end only 30 minutes of play was possible due to bad light after South Africa came out to bat.
At stumps, South Africa were 11 for one with Ravindra Jadeja trapping first innings centurion Dean Elgar in front of the stumps. The visitors need another 384 runs for victory.
The pitch remains slow but is offering turn with the odd ball rearing up from the spots created. Ravichandran Ashwin, who took seven wickets in the first innings along with Jadeja, hold the key on the final day.
With the stodgy Elgar removed, the only other factor could be Quinton de Kock, who has often proved to be a thorn in India's flesh.
Considering their spirited effort with the bat in the first innings, South Africa would be backing themselves to bat out the 90 odd overs on the final day.
The day once again belonged to Rohit, who played yet another sublime knock at a brisk pace after the hosts bowled out South Africa for 431 almost one hour into morning session, earning a 71-run lead.
Rohit also broke the record of most sixes in a game with 13 maximums, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram who smashed 12 in a match against Zimbabwe in 1996.
Rohit smashed six sixes in first innings and seven in the second, including a hat-trick of sixes off spinner Dane Piedt in the 56th over when India were looking for quick runs.
His 169-run stand for the second wicket with Cheteswar Pujara (81 off 148) set the tone for India's second innings before Ravindra Jadeja (40 off 32), Virat Kohli (31 not out off 25) and Ajinkya Rahane (27 not out off 17) played their part. Considering the scenario, Jadeja had come out to bat ahead of Kohli.
With 175 for one at tea, India had extended their lead to 246 runs, scoring runs 140 runs in the session in 34 overs.
While stylish right-hander played in his usual fashion and kept the scoreboard ticking, Pujara found the going tough in the initial part of his innings which he scored eight runs off the first 62 balls faced.
However, after the first drinks break of the session, he went on the offensive especially against the spinners. He stepped out to the spinners more often than not and other times he kept them guessing.
Thinking Pujara will dance down the wicket again, Piedt dropped one short and Pujara stayed back to pull it over deep mid-wicket for a rare six. Before that, he collected four boundaries off Maharaj to push up the scoring rate.
The luck was also on Pujara's side as Kagiso Rabada found the outside edge of his bat in the same over but on both occasions the ball landed between first slip and wicketkeeper before running to the boundary.
Rohit too was fortunate when Senuran Muthusamy caught him at long-on but after the review showed that he touched the boundary rope while releasing the ball for a legitimate catch on the second attempt.
Pujara, who hit 13 fours and two sixes, survived a close DRS call on the last ball before the break.
South Africa, resuming the day at 385 for eight, batted for 13.2 overs in the morning scoring valuable 46 runs courtesy debutant Muthusamy, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 106, and Rabada, who hit three welcome boundaries in his 15-run cameo.
India batted for close to an hour in the session and were 35 for one at lunch in 14 overs with Rohit-Pujara, extending their lead to 106 runs.
Maharaj dismissed first innings double centurion Mayank Agarwal (7) with a classical left-arm spinner delivery, which turned and bounce enough to take the edge for a simple catch at first slip.
The hosts would have been better placed if they did not allow South African tail to get some handy runs in the first hour of play. The 10th wicket stand between Muthusamy and Rabada fetched 35 runs.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who picked up his 27th five-wicket haul on Friday, added two more to his tally to end with the innings with 349 Test scalps.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
