India vs South Africa 2nd Test preview: Virat Kohli grinds in nets as Team India look to draw series

Team India's dream of winning a Test series in South Africa came crashing down when they lost the Centurion Test within 3 days. Rohit Sharma's men now stand at the cusp of losing the 2-match series if they fail to win the final Test in Cape Town.

However, it's easier said than done as India's record at Newlands is enough to explain why the Subcontinental giants have failed to win a single Test series in the Rainbow Nation in 31 years.

No Indian team in the past has managed to win a single Test out of the 6 played in Cape Town. The visitors lost the last 2 out of those with their last draw coming way back in 2011.

Nevertheless, India is leaving no stone unturned in their quest to prepare for the final Test of the series.

On New Year's Day, it was business as usual for Virat Kohli as he had an extended net session lasting close to an hour. First, he was at the centre nets against bowlers and then he faced high-intensity throwdowns for about 20 to 25 minutes at outside nets.

Kohli is known to come to nets with a specific purpose and on Monday, it seemed he wanted to extensively bat against a left-arm pacer.

Since the Indian team's pace bowling roster doesn't include a left-armer, a net bowler was summoned and Kohli faced a good 25 to 30 deliveries from him in between playing against Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin and Avesh Khan.

Kohli was repeatedly seen putting in a big stride forward and at times walking a couple of steps to whip the bowler through mid-wicket.

However, the only problem here was that the youngster provided by Cricket South Africa (CSA) was at least 15 clicks lesser in terms of pace compared to Burger, who took seven wickets on debut in the opening Test at Centurion.

But other batters also need to step up. While Rohit Sharma has looked out of form at the top, Shreyas Iyer continues to struggle with the short ball.

Apart from the batters, all bowlers except Jasprit Bumrah looked a bit out of shape in the 1st Test. Since Avesh Khan has been added to the squad, he or Mukesh Kumar may likely replace Prasidh Krishna in the playing XI.

India may have failed to breach the final frontier but the Cape Town Test is still very crucial for Rohit's men as far as the World Test Championship is concerned.