"We cannot afford so many ups and downs" - Saba Karim on India's loss at the Wanderers

Former national selector Saba Karim said India cannot afford to have "so many ups and downs" as the top-ranked Test team. Ex-India wicketkeeper Karim's statement came after India's loss to South Africa in the second Test at the Wanderers.

Speaking on YouTube channel Khelneeti, Karim said India's failure to post a competitive first innings total hurt them.

"We saw in the first Test as well, that if you win the toss and decide to bat then it's very important that you put 300-350 runs on the board. That was India’s biggest mistake. In the second innings, we had the opportunity to add 40-50 runs. If you add those 100-150 runs the target would have reached 300-350 runs. This target would have been very hard to achieve for South Africa," Karim said.

India won the first Test in Centurion by 113 runs and the hosts leveled the three-match series with a seven-wicket win at the Wanderers. The final Test starts in Cape Town on January 11.

"The upcoming Test, it will be a thrilling contest, but it has happened quite often that our performances have been full of ups and downs. If we are the number 1 or 2 ranked team, we can't afford so many ups and downs. The kind of team we are, we need to dominate. This is the reason I believe we should have won 3-0. The kind of position we were in the second Test match as well, this was in our hands if we had batted with more application," he added.

South Africa beat India by 7 wickets to level series 1-1

Virat Kohli missed the Wanderers Test due to injury and KL Rahul led the visitors who put up 202 after electing to bat. The hosts responded with 229. India did better in the second innings, scoring 266 to set South Africa a target of 240, which wasn't sufficient in the end.

South Africa skipper Dean Elgar was declared Player of the match for his unbeaten 96