Ashwin, a former cricket player, believes that India would need to put in a significant amount of work if they hope to win the second Test of the series against South Africa. At the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, the visiting team won the toss and chose to bat first, defeating the Rishabh Pant-led team after nearly two days of batting.
It was the afternoon session on the second day in Guwahati, and Ashwin, who had already lauded Senuran Muthusamy in particular, made a statement on X after South Africa had not been bowled out even at the end of the fifth session of the match.
“SA has now eliminated five test sessions. Considering that another session will undoubtedly be lost owing to poor lighting, India will need to put in a lot of effort to strive for victory.
The standout moment thus far has been Muthusamy’s defensive strategy against spin,” Ashwin commented on his X account.
SA have knocked off 5 sessions from this test now.
India will have to do the heavy lifting to push for a win, also keeping in mind that another session will surely be lost due to bad light.
Muthusamy’s defensive technique against spin has been the highlight so far. #indvsa pic.twitter.com/w3xMHGl2ow
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 23, 2025
Muthusamy was fired during the first part of Day 2’s third session. But not before he utterly frustrated the Indian bowlers and scored his first international century (109 off 206). In his innings, the batting all-rounder hit two sixes and ten fours. He formed significant alliances with Marco Jansen, Kyle Verreynne, and Tony de Zorzi while he was in the middle.
South Africa is ahead already. At the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, they prevailed by 30 runs in the first match of the series. With eight wickets, Simon Harmer (4/30 in 15.2 overs and 4/21 in 14 overs) was named Player of the Match. The only player with a half-century in this low-scoring match was captain Temba Bavuma.
Three ODIs will follow the tests. Five Twenty20 Internationals will be played following the 50-over leg. India’s chances of winning the World Test Championship in the 2025–2027 cycle will depend on this particular test. The hosts could suffer a serious blow if they lose this game, which would be India’s second in three home Test series.
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