Former South African gun fast bowler Dale Steyn questioned India’s bowling plan after the second day of the second Test match against South Africa at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Sunday. Steyn reckons the Indian bowlers stuck with their main plan for too long and didn’t switch to the other plan in time.
Furthermore, the former pacer questioned Rishabh Pant’s captaincy for setting defensive fields. 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. Meanwhile, Indian bowlers had to remain patient in their approach as they didn’t get much help from the surface.
“I thought they bowled well up to a point, but at times they didn’t move away from their original plan. They stuck with Plan A for too long and didn’t really switch to a Plan B or C,” Steyn said while speaking on JioStar.
“At moments, they were a bit too defensive–when a batter walked in, there was long-on, long-off and deep square, which permitted the batter to settle with easy singles before India brought the field back in,” Steyn added.
On the other hand, former Indian captain Anil Kumble said Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen took the game away from the hosts. 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.
“It’s never easy when the lower order contributes like that. Marco Jansen completely took the game away from India in that session, especially with the way he looked to hit sixes,” former India cricketer Anil Kumble said.
“He clearly trusts his batting; he’s carrying more than four bats and he needs a long blade. He was outstanding against the spinners and even took on the short ball. Perhaps towards the end, he got a bit lazy, trusting his timing too much while looking for singles to get to his hundred,” Kumble added.
India is 78-1 before tea break on the third day.
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