In the second Test in Pune, an all-round performance by team India lead them to script history by defeating South Africa by an innings and 137 runs. With this win, team India managed to attain the remarkable world record of winning 11 consecutive Test series on home soil.
With the series already in their kitty, team India will yet again aim to dominate the visitors to earn another 40 points and extend their lead in the World Test Championship.
"We are not going to take the foot off the gas in the third Test. We are looking for a result and hopefully make it 3-0. No one is going to relax at any stage, that is a guarantee," Kohli had said after the Pune Test.
South Africa, on the other hand, have just not been able to cope up with the conditions on offer. They have been just not been able to come with a performance to match that of the Indians.
Their batters seem to be out of form. Barring contributions from the lower order, the top order batsmen have not been able to score big and put pressure on the Indian bowlers.
The Proteas have not been able to make use of their first innings, a thing which skipper Faf du Plessis wants his batsmen to focus upon.
"We need to put big runs on the board in the first innings," said du Plessis in the pre-match presser. "When you get runs in the first innings anything from there is possible. For us first innings runs will be vital and then anything could happen in the second innings," he added.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (capt/wk), Rassie van der Dussen (vc), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde.