India 601 for 5 declared. (Kohli 254*, Agarwal 108, Jadeja 91, Rabada 3-93). South Africa 275 (Maharaj 72, Du Plessis 64, Ashwin 4-69, Umesh 3-37) and 189 (Elgar 48, Bavuma 38, Umesh 3-22, Jadeja 3-52, Ashwin 2-45). India won by an innings and 137 runs.

South Africa’s loss in the second Test means India has wrapped up the series following their 203-run win in the first Test in Vizag and also claimed a record 11th straight home series win.

For India the only problems they have are the kind coaches love – whether to replace in-form players with other excellent players now that the objective of winning the series has been achieved.

For inexperienced South Africa though, the problems are numerous and deep.

After being asked to follow-on, on Sunday morning after scoring 275 in reply to India’s 601 for five declared, the Proteas were immediately floundering.

India bowled South Africa out for 189 in the second innings as the Proteas top order failed again.

Seamer Umesh Yadav took three for 22, slow left-arm Ravindra Jadeja claimed three for 52 and right-arm spinner Ravi Ashwin took two for 45. Ashwin has taken 14 wickets in the series.

Proteas opener Dean Elgar top scored with 48 while the struggling Temba Bavuma added 38. Neither score was anywhere near enough to save South Africa. The rest of the top six contributed only 27 runs.

Aiden Markram, after such a strong start to his Test career, is going backwards at an alarming rate. He has scored only 44 runs in the series – none of them in Pune.

Ishant Sharma trapped Markram leg before with the second ball of the innings, justifying India captain Virat Kohli’s decision to enforce the follow-on. Markram collected a dreaded pair in the match.

Markram scored his last Test century, a classy 152 against Australia, at the Wanderers in March 2018. At that stage of his career he had scored 963 runs in 17 Test innings, which included four centuries at an average of 56.6.

Since then he’s batted 18 times, scoring 439 runs at an average of 24.4, with a high score of 90. Markram’s problems are a microcosm of the general malaise the Proteas are in.

Batting is just one of the areas South Africa will have to ponder when they return to SA. But for now they have to soldier on with what they have.

“You don’t mind losing to a team better than you, but in this Test we didn’t even come close to where we needed to be to compete. We let ourselves down‚” captain Faf du Plessis told reporters after the match.

“There’s still fight from the guys‚ hanging in there and trying to compete‚ but there’s a lot of questions that need answers.”

Kohli scored an unbeaten 254 in Pune while opener Mayank Agarwal contributed 108. In the first Test, Agarwal scored 215 while Rohit Sharma scored centuries in each innings in Vizag.

Only Elgar and Quinton de Kock have scored centuries for SA, both in the first innings in Vizag when the Proteas posted a respectable 431. Du Plessis has twice scored half centuries while lower order batsmen Keshav Maharaj and Dane Piedt were the others to go past 50.

The obvious Proteas’ batting problems have not been aided by lacklustre bowling, that has left them under scoreboard pressure every time they have batted.

The spinning unit has failed miserably in conditions that should suit it, and some abject fielding and ill-discipline, underlined by 11 no-balls bowled in the first innings in Pune, have contributed to the 1,426 runs India have scored in three innings. And the home team lost only 16 wickets while doing it.

Maharaj, who will miss the third Test through injury, is South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the series with six. He conceded 514 runs while taking them.

“With a very young team and a lot of new faces‚ consistency would be one of the things we would try and work towards‚” Du Plessis said.

“Experience and consistency go hand in hand. We took one step forward in the first Test but took two back through not being consistent.

“Even with a lot of inexperience in our team, we never came here thinking we were going to roll over and die.

“We are a very proud cricketing nation and our performance in this Test doesn’t do that justice. I am hurting and I am sure the guys are‚ too. It’s about trying to make sure this team can get better‚ even if you do a few things wrong.

“Even in real tough times‚ make sure you try and find learning where the player can get better‚ otherwise we are not moving forward as a group. Hopefully, in a few years’ time we can come here and young players who have gone through bad experiences have got stronger,” said the South African captain. DM