The difference between the teams on day one in Eden Gardens, aside from one having their best bowler available, and the other not, was the lack of intensity from the Proteas.
It was particularly concerning in the last hour when, with an inadequate first innings total to defend against India, the South Africans seemed hesitant.
They were very quiet, something Dale Steyn noted on commentary, but there was also an absence of street smarts, exemplified in the five annoying moments it took to retrieve a helmet and pads for Ryan Rickelton in the middle of a Keshav Maharaj over.
With the light fading, there was a need to bowl as many balls as possible at KL Rahul and Washington Sundar, with the latter in particular looking distracted and clearly wanting to get off the field.
The contrast with the way India emerged after lunch on Friday was alarming. In the case of the hosts, Jasprit Bumrah, backed by Kuldeep Yadav and later Mohammad Siraj, bowled with a focused fury that made what were already difficult batting conditions seem even harder, just through their body language.
Batting coach Ashwell Prince explained after play that South Africa’s batters were taken aback by the inconsistent bounce, which Bumrah had used superbly to dismiss Aiden Markram and later Tony de Zorzi.
“Often when batters get into the 20s you expect them to grow in confidence, but I don’t think that happened for any of our batters, because of the inconsistency of the bounce,” said Prince.
Temba Bavuma won the toss and understandably chose to bat, and at 57/0 after 10 overs, South Africa were well set.
Then both openers were dismissed by Bumrah and the first day turned decisively in India’s favour. There were troubling signs for the batters in the first over, with one ball keeping so low it went for byes and the next one forcing Markram onto his toes to defend.
“What happens is, you don’t trust the surface as much as you should after spending an hour at the crease. And then, against a quality bowling attack, who more often than not get the ball in a dangerous area, it does too much for you and unfortunately that was the case today.”
However, in the 20 overs India faced, much of it in the gloom, the South African bowlers not only couldn’t match India’s aggression, but they also didn’t produce the necessary consistency to take advantage of a surface Prince said was assisting the fast bowlers.
In that regard the absence of Kagiso Rabada is an enormous blow.
This is a vital series, where South Africa’s status as world Test champions is under scrutiny and not having their best bowler, who is intent on showing he can deliver high quality performances in India, created a hole the Proteas found impossible to fill on day one.
Marco Jansen, bowling from the same end where Bumrah took 5/27, troubled the Indian openers and got reward by dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswail, but needed to target the stumps more — like Bumrah did.
Corbin Bosch, Rabada’s replacement in the starting team, was wayward and Wiaan Mulder, who shared the new ball with Jansen, lacked the pace to make the Indians uncomfortable.
“It was a sensational bowling display particularly from Bumrah. He was relentless — sometimes as batters there’s not a lot you can do,” said Prince.
One thing they can be in the field on Saturday is more energetic and savvy — which they weren’t in the last session.
Prince showed empathy for Mulder, who was dismissed lbw after missing a reverse sweep, and Tristan Stubbs, who stayed in his shell throughout an unbeaten 15 off 74 balls in nearly two hours at the crease.
“Mulder did get off the mark with the reverse sweep. We encourage the batters to back their options. They have to be true to themselves and play their game.
“We will have discussions about which type of options we can take, maybe some more aggressive options,” he said.
“KL Rahul faced (59) balls for 13, which suggests it is not a free-scoring pitch, but they have nine wickets in hand and there is no rush for them in terms of time.
“From our point of view we want them to have at least 150 to chase in the second innings, which means we have to keep that lead as small as possible and hopefully we set something up in the second innings.”
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