Kuldeep Yadav came out for the press conference after the end of play on Monday and said, “Kolkata was different, yeh to pura road tha (this is absolutely a road).” His remark came after spending two days in the field, during which he bowled 29.1 of the 151.1 overs sent down. To an extent, he was right. The pitch at the Barsapara Stadium did not offer much assistance to the bowlers. The South African batters made full use of the ideal batting conditions to post 489. Number seven batter Senuran Muthusamy top-scored for the Proteas with 109.
India, however, were rolled over by a road roller named Marco Jansen on the same pitch. At the time of writing, India were reduced to 174/7 by Lunch break on Day 3.
Not spin but pace, and particularly bounce, has been the hosts’ nemesis in their ongoing first innings. Jansen has accounted for four of the seven wickets to fall. Red-soil pitches offer more bounce, and the towering left-arm pacer extracted that bounce to rattle India and trigger their slide from 65/1 to 122/7.
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From the other end, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj chipped in with two and one wickets respectively. South Africa’s fielders have supported their bowlers by converting their half-chances. Aiden Markram’s stunner in the slip cordon to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy is one example.
The bowling has been good, but the batting has been awful, to say the least. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan failed to keep the ball down against Harmer, while Nitish and Ravindra Jadeja were bounced out by Jansen. Both batters failed to ride the bounce. It is not Australia, but by the way they were dismissed it seemed as though they were batting at Perth Stadium.
Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel gifted their wickets by playing needless shots. There was no need for Pant to charge down the wicket to Jansen, who was in the middle of a great spell. The same applies to Jurel; he should not have played the half-hearted pull. Right now, shot selection, technique and temperament all seem to be a problem for India’s current batting line-up.
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On a turning pitch in Kolkata, the Indian batters surrendered. Now, on what was described as a ‘flat’ wicket, they have once again lowered their guard.
To put things in perspective, India have made a flat-looking surface appear unplayable, and they are now on the verge of a rare follow-on at home, the first in 15 years, and a second series whitewash within a year.
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