The Confidence India Built over an Entire Year, suddenly disintegrated in 45 minutes

  Source of Pic: ESPNCRICINFO

Getting South Africa all out on the first day in South Africa is no ordinary task. No kidding, it was an outstanding effort from the Indian bowlers. But do you remember the Zimbabwe match? South Africa had a huge collapse. The lower order fell like a pack of cards, and Zimbabwe bowlers were lauded and praised for their outstanding bowling. But then what happened? All the confidence Zimbabwe mustered and scrapped just went POP!! And that is exactly what happened to India, ditto. The bowling of the Indians was praised and applauded. But what they didn't know that it was the pitch doing the magic. But what they didn't know was that the South African bowlers love this kind of pitch. The pitch that can crumble a whole teams confidence.
                             A lot was said about this Indian team. They changed completely, they had a huge streak of wins, and their bowling had considerably improved. However, this test proved it completely wrong. A keen cricket observer could see some shades of the old Indian team. They couldn't cope with the strength of the South African team. The starting was up to the standard of the Indian team. But then entered the might of AB. The man who terrorizes India singlehandedly and relies on others for all other teams. And when he pairs with Faf du Plessis, its a show all right!! The bowling confidence that they brought off from every single tour just completely shattered. On that kind of a pitch, every ball that they threw was calmly held off by the two. AB just hit 65. But the flow of boundaries he hit wore them down bit by bit by bit. Faf only hit 62. But the "score" he had to settle with India fuelled his pleasant strokes in the day, leaving India bewildered. After they both got out, courtesy some pretty good balls from Bumrah and Pandya, nobody got that score. But everyone had that flow. Look at the scores after them. Every single person made some double-digit score. It was as if confidence transformed from India to South Africa.  Despite being 12/3, they made 286 on a pitch which if utilized, can get them out below 150. The Indian's team underutilization can be attributed to one thing: lack of confidence. Half of their confidence crumbled already.
                          But no problem. they still had their invincible batting right? Kohli, Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara, my oh my!!! They will make a pickle out of the opponents!! Or so they thought. BOOM! Philander strikes and gets the  Vijay! 1 pillar gone. But no problem. its ok, we have Chiku and Dhawan!! Dhawan completely tucked in, with 3 boundaries. But then, gone!! Steyn was gone?? BOOM!! Pace and speed fooled Dhawan completely and he is gone. Kohli uncomfortably defends and fends off Philander and Steyn. But then, out of nowhere, Morne Morkel comes and first ball, BOOM!! picks up Virat Kohli!! Silence from the Indian fans at the stadium. What?? Where is their confidence now!! See, the main problem with the Indian's team confidence: they weren't tested on outside pitches besides the West Indies, where even there they didn't show their full strength. The confidence built up from Asian pitches just crumbled on a raw South African pitch filled with bowler support. It's been three years, and the sheer pace of the bowlers burst through almost everyone, even Virat Kohli. The rest of the batsmen half-heartedly defended some balls, had some scares, but finally they got through. But even there, you could see that old vigor and confidence slowly and steadily leaking out.
                           So, as Rohit and Pujara walk out with zero expectations, little hopes, and a heavily damaged confidence, they will try to take this mess and stitch it into some kind of miracle. It's not impossible, but it looks very hard. So, from here on out, here is some honest advice to the Indian cricket team: go with zero expectations, zero egos, and zero overconfidence. Just play hard and try to master the pitch. Have confidence, but be wary: this South African team can destroy your confidence just like they did today, and every time there wont be a Rohit, Pujara, and Saha to try and save you.