India vs South Africa 2nd Test Day 5: ‘Up to BCCI to decide… I’m the same guy who got results in England as well,’ says Gautam Gambhir

"We need to play better. From 95/1 to 122/7 is not acceptable. You don't blame any individual or any particular shot. Blame lies with everyone. I never blamed individuals and won't do it going forward," he added.

Like I said in the last Test, it's been a long road. 10 years later, completely different feeling. Will leave with a lot more fonder memories from then. To beat a very good Indian team is a hell of an effort. I was just watching our second innings, after 40 overs, the ball got softer and it became easier. But there was the odd-ball, the ball that Rishabh got. Nice to contribute, nice to get wickets and nice to get a fifer in India. I think in the 2nd innings we knew they would bat for their lives, they put hell of a fight. But we knew if we put it in the right areas, things would happen. Sharp catches from Markram in the slips and Jansen as well which helps. When I'm bowling from that end, I felt it was a left-hander's wicket, Temba asked me to change and a great decision from him and happy to get the wickets. Kesh's record speaks for itself, he deserves to be the number one spinner and I'm happy to play the supporting role. When given a chance, I'm happy to play the supporting role. I didn't bat well, Jasprit had my number. Another county stint with Essex, few games with the Titans that's what is next.

It's a great feeling. Great effort by everyone to be fair. No easy task coming to India and win. Needed a few moments of good luck I suppose along the way. We're here now, very proud of the team. A lot of it was no preconceived ideas about conditions. A lot of chat about spin, and quality seamers with the new ball. You don't want to have demons in your mind before facing your first ball. Didn't know that (record number of catches). Credit to the bowlers, they get the balls in the right areas and you try to catch them and make them happy. Spinning the ball different ways helps in conditions like this. You have to do that for long periods of time and that's where the control comes in. Credit to the two, they bowled very well. Was tough. You look at the wicket before the game, more grass on it than usual and when you have two quality seamers you're going to be tested. The guys that came in after that everyone got starts. It’s tough to get through that. You need a little bit of luck along the way, as I mentioned. Ricks (Rickelton) and I were able to calm the change-room down and get us off to a half-solid start. The guys that came in after that, everyone got starts. Sen (Muthusamy) showed us how to kick on and get a big score. It’s a moment I’m sure Sen is really proud of.

Well, it was a forgetful shot from Nitish; he reverse-swept one and did not get anything on the bat, and the keeper completed the catch. As we update, Ravindra Jadeja too has fallen here. He charged down the track and missed the ball, and got stumped. South Africa is one wicket away from winning. Yesterday, we were wondering if the visitors were leaving it a bit too late, but it seems like they have more than a session and a half or so. What a Test match this has been for South Africa in the first one; they did it on a lottery wicket, and in this one, they are doing it on a good wicket.

This is a nice partnership brewing for India at the moment. Both Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar are playing nicely. Jadeja, especially within no time, is closing in on his half-century here. Sundar has calmly gotten into his innings. One trait which can make Sundar a long-term number three if the side is looking at that prospect is his ability to bat long, which is an extremely underrated or at times criticised skill in the modern era. Well seems like we jinxed it as we update. Harmer has scalped Washington Sundar here.

Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja were the men who had seen through the Manchester Test for India. Those were pretty different conditions; although away from home, it was a pretty flat deck. The one here is turning, and they are dealing with Simon Harmer, who has picked over 1000 wickets in his professional career and has added a few more. The way he bowled in that morning session, he might be adding a few more as well. With two left-handers in the middle, it might not be too long before we see him coming back for another spell.

There is another wicket for South Africa; it was Muthusamy who got the breakthrough. It was a bit of a nothing shot from Sai Sudharsan after doing all the work in the morning. He lunged forward and yet could not meet the ball at the right area, and by the time it reached Sudharsan's bat, it was already moving away, and it took the edge, and Aiden Markram took a good low catch. Washington Sundar, another left-hander, has walked in to bat for India in the middle.

“Maybe the South African coach does not know the weightage of the word. But I don’t think so. There was a smirk on his face when he said it. There is no doubt that it was disrespectful. As the Indian team all you do is tell them that ‘You’ve come to this situation by playing well. Well done to you. But there was no need to use such words’. I think through the day we will see an apology from Conrad. I don’t think such things are needed on the cricketing field. You can fight, play hard, but such things are not needed,” Patel said on the Star Sports broadcast before the start of the day’s play on Wednesday.

Aiden Markram has come into a short burst here from Maharaj's end. Markram himself is quite a canny bowler in these conditions. He is not someone who is going to toss it up like Harmer but will look more to dart the ball in the hope that the batters to make that error.

We are 25 minutes away from the break here. The immediate checkpoint for India is not to lose any wickets before that. And in South Africa, they would want to pick one more left-hander. Since we are getting closer to the break, although Harmer has bowled well, it would not be a bad ploy for South Africa to bring in Wiaan Mulder for a couple of overs just to see if there is any lapse of concentration to buy that wicket. We have seen something similar in that MCG Test during BGT when India were looking comfortable. Pant ended up playing a rash shot and got out.

Harmer is bowling quite beautifully here. It is nothing extravagant; it is just basic, simple bowling from the same line and length, he is beating the batters with subtle variations. This amount of skill can only be attained by playing domestic cricket consistently. This is a food for thought until Sundar does come through it might not be a bad ploy for the side to go into the domestic cricket and look for a veteran spinner similar to Harmer and play him so that Sundar can have some time to understand his own game and adjust his role in the side.

Keshav Maharaj has come into the attack from the other end, and Rishabh Pant right away went after him. It is something which Pant does, and that is the way he plays, but there is a method to his madness. Once he settles in, we might end up seeing a lot more conventional cricket. There was a game at MCG during BGT when Pant showed the application to draw the Test match, but eventually, he could not curb his natural instinct to attack the bowler and got himself out. We have to see how things will go for him today because without Gill, he and Jaiswal are the premium batters on this side.

Well there we go right on cue Harmer has picked up two wickets in that over first it was Kuldeep Yadav and that was arm-ball on that occasion which Kuldeep anticipated to turn away and left gap between bat and pad playing the line and ball angled in to take the middle stump and then it was Dhruv Jurel who lunged forward to play the ball which was way outside the off-stump and the edge carried to Aiden Markram. This is unravelling quite quickly for India, and the way Harmer is bowling at the moment, he might end up with 6-7 wickets.

Well, we already had some action here. Sai Sudharsan hanging on the backfoot edged a delivery which angled back by Jansen, and the keeper took the catch; however, the no-ball siren went off, and Sudharsan has survived. One thing about Sudharsan is altough he has the temperamental prowess but he needs to improve on his technical game. As we update, we have another opportunity gone begging for South Africa. It is Kuldeep Yadav who edged the ball, and Markram at first slip dropped the catch. India survives here again.

It just might end up as one of the pivotal days in India's red-ball future. The side is not going to play another red-ball game till July next year, but if they were to lose today, one would assume that the rich legacy of Indian cricket means some tough calls have to be made.

Little bit (disappointed?), but they're two down now so we'll take that. Wasn't an overs thing (declaration), was more about the time. We had forty minutes after lunch. Thought I'll give it a go (for the hundred), and then when Jadeja came on, that was the last over, so I thought two hits is my best shot. If you were just looking to defend (deliveries out of the rough) I thought you'll be a sitting duck. That was more of a defensive shot to get off strike (sweep). Some of those shots - you had to play them. There's some nice footholes there. Harmy showed it - getting KL out. If we get the ball in the right areas, there's enough in this wicket.

“It was a poor shot from Yashasvi Jaiswal. They certainly tested both the openers, and Jaiswal in particular got a lot of short-pitched deliveries from Marco Jansen. Eventually, he fell playing his favourite cut shot — a shot he has scored many runs from, but also gets out to. He was trying to force the pace and ended up getting out to Jansen,” Anil Kumble said.

“It’s his go-to shot, and breaking that instinct is tough. When you see the ball in your zone, you go for it. But maybe it’s something he needs to consciously cut down on. I remember Sachin once removed the drive from his game in Australia. Jaiswal may also need to say, ‘Unless it’s in a specific area, I won’t play it. In this area, I’ll trust my defence’,” Steyn said on JioHotstar after the day’s play.

“Gauti bhaiya (Gautam Gambhir) has worked really hard and he is not at all at fault. The players have to work really hard and play well. Under him we have been doing great in the white-ball format where we just won the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this year. The players have to score, the coach can only guide, advise and give support to the players” Raina told ‘PTI Videos’.

Hello and welcome to our live blog of the final day between India and South Africa. For the hosts, it is pretty simple show some resistance, draw the Test match and take something away from the series. But do the batters have enough skills to do against a quality South African attack? We shall find out if you stay with us, it is going to be an interesting day for cricket coming up.