Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri was critical of Gautam Gambhir for making non-sensical changes to the playing XI for the second Test against South Africa. Following the Men in Blue's 30-run defeat in the series opener at Eden Gardens, the team management had decided to bring in Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy into the XI. These changes were expected to strengthen the batting order, but instead the Men in Blue got bowled out for just 201 runs in their first innings of the Guwahati Test.
Another talking point was the drastic change in Washington Sundar's batting position. Notably, the all-rounder had batted at No.3 during the first Test in Sudharsan's absence, but got demoted all the way down to the No.8 spot for the second match. Shastri remarked that India's strategy regarding their batting order "doesn't make sense and questioned the massive change in Sundar's batting position.
“Just doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand the thought process there. And when they look back at the series, some of the selections… I am still trying to fathom the thought process behind them. In Kolkata, one of the spinners (Sundar) bowled just one over. Ideally, you could have gone with another specialist batsman. Similarly, here, Washington batted at three in the last Test and could have easily batted at four here, now that you had a number three. He’s not a number eight; he’s far better than a number eight," Shastri said on air.
Batting falls apart after strong start
The India batters faced a lot of scrutiny over their abysmal performance against South Africa. Notably, they had started the innings well thanks to openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, who formed a robust 65-run stand. Though they looked to be in a strong position at 95/1 at one stage, they ended up suffering a batting collapse and lost six wickets for just 27 runs.
India far behind South Africa in the match
A 72-run partnership between Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav saved India from humilation and helped them in surpassing the 200-run mark. However, the South African bowlers proved to be too good at the end of the day and bundled out the hosts for 201 runs, taking a humongous 288-run lead. Though they had a chance to enforce follow-on over their opponents, the Proteas didn't do so and decided to bat once again. They wrapped up Day 3 on 26/0, leading the Men in Blue by a massive 314-run margin.