Former Indian off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reckons India’s stand-in captain Rishabh Pant was not up to the mark in the opening Test match against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. India was stunned by 30 runs by the Proteas after the hosts could not chase down 124 runs for the win.
South Africa were tottering at 93-7 but Pant started Day 3 with Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. The two left-arm orthodox spinners bowled six overs before Pant decided to bring a change. Ashwin said it was a blunder to not bring Jasprit Bumrah right away at the start of the third day. In the end, it was Bumrah, who dismissed Corbin Bosch and broke his partnership with Temba Bavuma.
“The strategy at the start of Day 3 was wrong. Test match mornings should always start with your best bowlers. Bumrah and Jadeja should have started the day, then it should have been Kuldeep, and that is how the rotation should have happened. India made a massive error there, it was a tactical error, because of which the match slipped away from our hands,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
After the loss, head coach Gautam Gambhir had defended Rishabh Pant’s tactics.
“The skipper felt having two left-arm spinners against them on this wicket could be useful. It was the right call. Most of the calls we took today, tactically, I thought were spot on,” Gambhir had said during the post-match presentation (via JioHotstar)
On the other hand, Shubman Gill could only face three deliveries in the first innings before he was ruled out with a neck spasm. Ashwin said India playing with one batter short made a huge difference.
“Going one batter lighter in both innings is a huge factor, no doubt about it. But, it is what it is. I don’t think we are eligible enough to pass judgement on that, because we don’t know what happened. Obviously, it must be a little serious because he was in the hospital. So, I don’t want to dwell too much into it,” Ashwin added.
India and South Africa will take on each other in the second Test at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, from Saturday onwards.
