'Jadeja's inclusion a tactical decision'

 India’s bowling coach Joe Dawes termed the move to replace R Ashwin with Ravindra Jadeja for the second Test against South Africa as a tactical one.

“Look at what Jadeja has done while playing against Australia. Ashwin has played all games so far, and he hasn’t missed any. In these conditions, we felt Jadeja could do more.

“There’s nothing wrong with Ashwin. It just seemed Jadeja was a better choice for this Test match,” said Dawes during the post-day press conference on Thursday.
Explaining further on the move to bring in Jadeja, Dawes said: “Jadeja is an amazing athlete when it comes to bowling and batting, if we can add something else to that it will be great.”

However, Dawes admitted that the Indian bowlers could have bundled out South Africans on the fifth day of the first Test and mustered a win.      

“Yes, the bowlers are responsible, no doubt about it. We didn’t bowl SA on a wicket that had flattened out. We had created opportunities but we didn’t take them. SA batted well and that one partnership between AB (de Villiers) and Faf (du Plessis) saved the match for them. That’s how cricket goes,” he added.

On his recovery, South African pacer Morne Morkel said: “The MRI scan showed it as a grade 3 injury, but the sonar scan showed it as grade 1. Rehab went well like magic and swelling came down very soon. Today I bowled with normal run-up but with a slightly bigger strides. I am happy to be playing a part in Kallis’ last Test.”