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India's batting great Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on Team India's lacklustre bowling at the beginning of Day 3 in the first Test match against South Africa in Centurion on Thursday, December 28. He observed that Dean Elgar and Marco Jansen faced little challenge from the Indian bowlers, and there were also a few fielding mistakes that resulted in easy runs for the opposition. Gavaskar was seemingly disappointed with India's approach in the first session of Day 3, suggesting that the team should have commenced the day's play with more vigor and energy.
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"India need to wake up. They have been listless till now. They should be full of energy at the start of the day but they have been all over the place. Listless stuff. At tea, maybe the spirits can be down. Not at the start of the day," Gavaskar said during commentary.
During the match, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj both gave away runs due to fielding mistakes, and KL Rahul was unable to catch an inside edge from Jansen.
By lunchtime on the third day of the opening Test, South Africa had advanced to 392/7 in their first innings, in response to India's total of 245.
Dean Elgar, in his final international series, scored an impressive 185 runs, and Gerald Coetzee contributed 19 runs before being dismissed in the morning session. This effort helped the hosts to extend their lead by 147 runs.
Meanwhile, Marco Jansen narrowly missed out on scoring his maiden Test century as he remained unbeaten at 84 as South Africa concluded their first innings with a total of 408 at SuperSport Park. The combined efforts of Jansen, debutant David Bedingham's 56, and others propelled South Africa to a commanding position in the match, establishing a significant lead of 163 runs under sunny conditions. From the Indian bowling lineup, Jasprit Bumrah stood out with figures of 4-69, and Mohammed Siraj also made an impact with 2-91. However, the performance of India's alternate bowlers, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur, was less impressive. Both bowlers, despite taking a wicket each, struggled with their line and length, enabling the South African batsmen to score freely. This contributed to what was considered a lackluster bowling display by the visiting team.
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