India should rue the missing ruthless edge to their batting

If there was a face that told the story of India's Johannesburg Test, it was Shardul Thakur's. Late on the fourth evening with South Africa nine runs away from victory, he was made to reload his run-up by Temba Bavuma who pulled away from his stance just before the delivery. Thakur offered a stare. Two balls later when the same sequence played itself out again, he turned around and simply walked back to his mark, too crestfallen for another show of machismo.

It was a far cry from the Thakur of the last two days, the ebullient energiser bunny that strutted in and made things happen. After his