- Mohammed Siraj shines with 6 wickets for 15 runs.
- Tendulkar praises Siraj’s performance on social media.
- South Africa’s 55 is their lowest ever Test score against India.
The great Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar praised bowler Muhammad Siraj on the first day of the second Test in Cape Town on Wednesday, following the latter’s outstanding performance.
Siraj was the main ball-destroying force in the first inning as South Africa was bowled out for just 55 runs. The right-armer bowled nine straight overs and took six wickets for fifteen runs.
Tendulkar praised the gifted speedster profusely on X, the former Twitter.
Siraj weaving magic at Newlands! Impeccable length and a spellbinding display of seam bowling!#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/keq8mJQLat
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 3, 2024
Dean Elgar (4), Aiden Markram (2), Tony de Zorzi (2), David Bedingham (12), Kyle Verreynne (15), and Marco Jansen (0) were all removed by Siraj.
Mukesh Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah each took two wickets.
Among the Proteas batsmen, only Kyle Verreynne (15) and David Bedingham (12) were able to reach double digits.
In the history of Test matches, South Africa’s total of 55 is the lowest by any team against India.
Additionally, since 1889, this was the lowest score after South Africa chose to bat at home.
Earlier on Wednesday at Newlands, in the second and final Test matchup between South Africa and India, captain Dean Elgar chose to bat first.
The goal of the hosts is to sweep the series against the world’s best team.
After winning the first Test in Pretoria by an innings and 32 runs, South Africa made three changes to the squad.
Temba Bavuma, the regular captain, is injured, so middle-order batter Tristan Stubbs makes his debut.
In lieu of the injured Gerald Coetzee, spinner Keshav Maharaj earned his 50th cap, while seamer Lungi Ngidi took Keegan Petersen’s position.
“It looks an interesting wicket, a few snakes in it, hopefully it comes to the fore when we bowl,” Elgar said. “It is a big hurdle for us and a big test, this is our marquee game for the season. We have to start well.”
As the visitors made two changes, India captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged that if he had won the toss, he would have chosen to bat first.
Resuming his form, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja takes Ravichandran Ashwin’s spot, while seamer Mukesh Kumar takes Shardul Thakur’s place.
“There will be enough in the pitch for the seamers, so hopefully we can cash in on it,” Rohit stated. “It is important for us to forget what has happened in the past, it is about the present.”
Elgar, who chose to end his Test career early in order to focus on the series, is playing in his final match of twelve.