Cheteshwar Pujara says Indian bowlers would be disappointed after 2nd day of 2nd Test against South Africa

Former Indian Test batter Cheteshwar Pujara believes Indian bowlers would be disappointed after the second day of the second Test match against South Africa. The Proteas were 247-6 at the end of the opening day’s play and the hosts must have been hoping to get rid of the remaining four batters cheaply, so that they could bowl out the opposition under 350.

But it wasn’t to be the case as South Africa posted a par score of 489 runs on the board. Senuran Muthusamy scored a majestic knock of 109, which is his maiden Test century. Moreover, Marco Jansen scored a fine innings of 93, which is his highest score in Test cricket.

Meanwhile, Indian bowlers had to remain patient in their approach as they didn’t get much help from the surface.

“The Indian bowlers put in a lot of hard work, but the result didn’t go in their favor. There will be a little disappointment in the dressing room for sure, considering the way they bowled yesterday. They had picked up six wickets for less than 250, and even if they had got the remaining four wickets for 100 to 125 runs, they would have still been happy,” Pujara said on Star Sports.

Pujara highlighted that India should not have conceded 489 runs after having the Proteas at 246-6 at one stage.

“However, 489 is too many, especially since a lot of runs were scored for the last four wickets. Even if around 350 runs were scored on this wicket, one couldn’t have said bad bowling, but more than 450 should probably not have been scored, especially since you had dismissed the top-order batters and taken six wickets on the first day,” he added.

The former Indian number three observed that the pace of the pitch reduced considerably on the second day’s play and thus Indian bowlers were not as effective.

“There could be only one thing due to which the bowling wasn’t that good today – the pace of the pitch, because the bounce was still good. The pace of the pitch reduced a lot today, and because of that, our fast bowlers weren’t that effective,” he said.

India will resume the third day at 9-0.