Rahul, Mayank see out early Centurion intrigue

A day out from the Centurion Test, Rahul Dravid laid down the details of what it is like to bat in a Test in South Africa. "You can start a Test match where the ball can seam a bit and the bounce can be a bit tennis ball-y - it can have a little bit more steep bounce but it is slower. It tends to quicken up sometimes as I've seen on maybe Days 2,3,4 and then it can get a bit up and down on Day 5. So in that sense you get a whole breadth of things you've to deal with over the course of two innings and five days which is what makes playing in South Africa a little challenging, and also depending on the weather, some of these things can change."

11 of his 94 away Tests came in South Africa where his average dropped considerably - a par for course occurrence for even the best of visiting top-order batsmen in South Africa. So the now-retired Dravid passed on the need for facing Centurion's conditions with more grit than flair, which was put into play early on Day 1 by his openers.

"The conversations [with Dravid] were about being disciplined. He was very clear," Mayank Agarwal said after the first day's play. "He said that when you're playing in South Africa and other such countries, you will not look very good but it is not about looking good but about sticking to your plan, being disciplined and waiting for your opportunities to score. So we were thinking along those lines and I am glad we could do well in the first session."

Mayank and KL Rahul didn't even have to look all the way back to Dravid's time as a player in South Africa to understand the challenge ahead of them. In India's last tour there, the best opening stand was 30 between Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan in Cape Town. The only time in the six innings where they first up faced the vagaries of the opening morning conditions, Vijay and Rahul added 7 runs for the first wicket. In all the games at Centurion since India's last outing there in 2018, only one partnership has gone past the 50-run mark - between Rory Burns and Dom Sibley worth 92 runs.

Beyond the obvious numbers, Rahul came with first-hand experience of the difficulties of batting in South Africa. It took a while until he got his first run on Sunday, but by Lunch, he already had more to his name than he managed in all four innings in 2018. More crucially, he and Mayank Agarwal were both still undefeated, and with 83 runs in a phase where South Africa would've and should've taken back something to show for after Virat Kohli's decision to bat first.

"Take that edge, KG. Take that edge" was constantly belted out from Rabada's densely-populated slip cordon throughout his morning spell of six overs which fetched India just nine runs.

"The plan was to be very disciplined, only look to play the ball which are on the stumps and try and leave as many as possible. And I am glad that we could do just that," Mayank said.

Rahul particularly, came determined to make the most of his recent incidental Test return. He offered judgement to anything outside the off-stump line and even when he committed to playing the ball, it came equipped with soft hands to nullify the chances of an edge carrying to the slips. It wasn't until the 13th over when Wiaan Mulder erred in line that Rahul could, for the first time, bring his wrist work into play and cut the width away behind point for a four. Mayank too read into the caution that the duo was asked to heed, even as South Africa squandered the best conditions of the day to an extent in the morning session.

Lungi Ngidi brought South Africa their breakthroughs in the post-Lunch period but seemed a bit lethargic in the morning session when India slowly but assuredly built on. Mulder and debutant Marco Jansen struggled for control too, with the left-armer becoming India's release option as he erred in lengths at the start of his spell. He eventually created the one chance of the session, squaring up Mayank with a length ball that went with the angle, but Quinton de Kock fluffed the catching opportunity.

"I think there was a bit of moisture in the wicket early on and that's why we could see a few balls kick up from length and I think that just got a little bit better to bat on as the day progressed," Mayank added.

South Africa struck thrice after the Lunch intermission but batting got progressively easier and regular partnerships came easily. The edifice of India's end of the day tally of 272 for 3, including an unbeaten century for Rahul, stood firmly on the toils of the morning session.