Anil Kumble has always stressed on the importance of a never-say-die attitude on the cricket field, but his team did not show that quality in the second Test and that is certain to hurt him a lot. The Indian Test skipper said the below par performance will put pressure on India in the third and final Test, beginning in Kanpur on April 11.
"There is pressure. You have lost a Test here, so it's important for us to bounce back and we have the confidence we will bounce back," he said after the defeat on Saturday.
Kumble did not dwell too much on the pitch, the talking point during this Test. "I think the wicket behaved in the same way throughout with the new ball. It was just the matter of adjusting to that. It was one of those days where all the nicks either hit the stumps or went straight to the fielder," he added.
The Bangalorean said it was always going to be tough to comeback once the team was shut out for 76 in the first innings.
"It's always difficult to comeback after being bundled out for 76. We did well to pick up four quick wickets in South Africa's first innings, but the alliance between AB de Villiers and Kallis was the crucial partnership. If we had probably got a wicket at that stage then things could have been different," he said.
The veteran leg-spinner also identified Indian batsmen's failure to convert the starts in the second innings as a reason for the heavy defeat.
"It's just one of those things in the second innings where everybody got starts and we didn't convert them," he said.
Kumble also he did not feel his side was short of preparation. "No I don't think so. If we look back to the first Test match we scored more than 600 runs."
GROIN INJURY: Tendulkar to miss third Test
Ahmedabad, DHNS: Sachin Tendulkar, nursing a groin injury, has been ruled out of India’s third and final Test against South Africa at Kanpur from April 11 to 15.
“Sachin Tendulkar will be unavailable for selection for the third Test due to his right groin injury. Sachin is making good progress but he has not recovered sufficiently to be available for the third Test,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.
