Indian stand-in captain Rishabh Pant cut a frustrated figure on the morning of the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati as he lost his cool to teammate Kuldeep Yadav after the side received a second warning for delaying the start of the over.
Pant, who had already carried the first caution of the first day, was picked up again by umpire Richard Kettleborough during the 88th over for breaching the 60-second rule. As the clock ticked down and the umpire’s patience wore thin, Pant took his frustrations out on Kuldeep, prodding the left-arm spinner to pick up the pace between turns. In the background, a few Indian players could be seen jogging casually, adding to the captain’s irritation.
IND v SA, Test Day 2 Update | Scorecard
“Yaar, 30 seconds ka timer hai. Ghar pe khel rahe ho kya? Ek ball daal jaldi. (The timer is on. Are you playing at your home? Just throw the ball quickly,” Pant said on the stump mic. “Yaar Kuldeep, dono baar warning le li (Kuldeep). We have a second warning. bana rakha hai Test cricket ko (Do you need boys all (to move)? You made Test cricket a joke).” he added.
The blast brought back memories of Rohit Sharma’s time as captain. The 38-year-old, who recently retired, was known for keeping his players alert and disciplined in every passage of the game, irrespective of the format.
ICC STOP-CLOCK RULE
Earlier this year, the ICC introduced the stop-clock rule for Tests, which requires the fielding side to start the next replay within one minute of the completion of the previous one. Teams are given two warnings; beginning with the third offense, the batting side receives five penalty runs for each offense. The count is reset after every 80 overs. The regulation is already in use in ODIs and T20Is from June 2024.
SA IN CONTROL OF THE 2ND TEST
While India was preoccupied with overvaluation pressure, South Africa continued to dictate the terms. Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen put together the highest partnership of the series, an unbeaten 94 in just 16.3 overs. Jansen set the tone with an invisible six and Muthusamy met him with a purposehe eventually brought up his maiden Test hundred. By lunch on Day 2, South Africa moved to an impressive 428/7, with Muthusamy on 107* and Jansen on 51*.
Earlier, the visitors lost just one wicket in the opening session, Kyle Verreynne falling for 45, but the Indian bowling attack struggled to maintain the intensity. The overnight pair started cautiously, punishing only short deliveries and steadily increasing their lead. India remain in contention but the path to a comeback is narrowing. They need the remaining wickets quickly to prevent South Africa from marching towards a rare Test series victory on Indian soil.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
November 23, 2025
