India, Nov. 22 -- On a day the Ashes opener at Perth hurtled to one of the quickest finishes in the history of the game, South Africa and India turned back the clock by playing Test cricket in as old school a manner as possible.

Facilitating this pace was a well rolled red soil pitch that had something for everyone. Seamers found movement, spinners found zip and turn, and batters could trust the bounce of the pitch and play through the line.

India lost the toss again, dropped a catch in the first hour and nearly let the innings slip out of their hands but Jasprit Bumrah drew first blood before Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets to restrict South Africa to a more reasonable 247/6 at stumps on Day 1 of the second Test.

Reasonable because t...