Win-win situation if we bat out Day 5 - Jadeja

India limped to the end of Day 4 at 27/2 in chase of 549 runs in Guwahati.For the third time in five innings in this home season, Yashasvi Jaiswal got out playing the cut shot against a fast bowler - Marco Jansen in this case. This was also his sixth dismissal in 109 deliveries to South Africa's left-arm quicks in Test cricket. KL Rahul meanwhile, was beaten in the air by a spinner for the second time in this game - Keshav Maharaj in the first innings and Simon Harmer in the second.

The mountain of runs ahead of them looks insurmountable, and even the Indian dressing room appears to admit so. After the day's play, Ravindra Jadeja admitted that a draw would feel like a win if the remaining batters manage to play out the last day of the Test.

"Tomorrow is Day 5, so the ball will turn more and bounce more. That's the expectation," Jadeja opined. "So we will have to bat well. Take it session by session. If we don't give a wicket in the first session, then there will obviously be pressure on the bowlers that they need to bowl us out. For us that will be the win-win situation if we can bat out the full day tomorrow. For us, it'll be as good as a winning situation."

India started Day 4 with their backs to the wall as South Africa already led by 314 runs. The conditions sided with them in the morning session when both the finger spinners - Jadeja and Washington Sundar, maximised it with three wickets. But they struggled in the post-Tea session to cause more inroads.

"The ball started to turn a little when we were bowling but they were in a good situation. They already had such a big first-innings lead so they didn't have any panicky thoughts that the ball was turning so much," Jadeja felt.

In comparison to how South Africa's 2019 tour of India went, the tables have turned in a rather eerie fashion in Guwahati. South Africa have done all that India did in Vizag, Pune and Ranchi then - bat first and big through the best conditions on the first couple of days and then put the opponent in, in tougher times to set up massive wins.

Jadeja alluded to that, talking up the importance of toss in this game. "I think in cricket, it's all about timing. When you are not winning the toss... If we would have won the toss on this wicket, then we would have been in a good situation right now," Jadeja said, delving deeper into the conditions in which they bowled in the first innings.

South Africa batted 151.1 overs then, piling on 489 runs. To add to India's miseries, they were troubled by turn and bounce during their riposte on Day 3.

"See, honestly, when we were bowling for the first two days, there were no marks on the wicket. The wicket was shining like a mirror. And, when they came to bowl, because wickets [were] taken by the fast bowler [Marco Jansen], the spinners came in to play more. And, their ball was spinning and bouncing. So, as I said, situation matters a lot in cricket.

"Like, from 2012 to 2024, in 12 years we've not lost a series at home. In that time, we've handled these situations well. But that timing was such that we won a lot of tosses and we scored big in the first innings. We've beaten oppositions by innings. It has happened a lot of times," he added.