JOIN USTerming the pitch here for the third Test as a “challenging one”, Indian team’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar said the team that adapts better will have a chance to win the game.
Opting to bat first India folded up for 215 while South Africa finished the day at 11/2 on Wednesday.
“It is definitely a result wicket and it’s a wicket which is equally challenging for both sides,” he noted. “And whichever side adapts to it has a chance of winning the game. Today, all our batsmen applied themselves really well. When the wicket is slightly challenging, there are likely to be certain errors in judgement but I think it is part of the game. So far if you see the six completed innings in the series, this has been a low-scoring series and you need to accept that,” he offered.
Justifying the decision to roll out a turner, Bangar said India don’t get any favours when they tour abroad. “When India travel overseas, the ball starts seaming from Day 1, I think right from the first over,” he stressed. “The wickets are the same for both sides. I think it is a test of skill, just as you have the skill to counter the seaming ball, the skill against the spinning ball is also equally important.”
Bangar had this to offer when asked if the Indian batsmen were caught by Morne Morkel’s reverse swing. “It was a really smart adjustment by Morkel as far as length is concerned because in the first session he was dragging his length back which is his normal length. In the second session, he pushed his length higher and that is a challenge for our batsmen and we are already thinking about it,” he reasoned.
Further elaborating on Morkel’s bowling, Bangar said: “What happens when the ball starts to reverse swing is that at most times the batsmen tend to expect the ball to come into their pads, and because of that they end up playing slightly outside the line and that results in edges as happened to Virat. Because of the slow nature of the wicket, not many runs can be scored in front of the wicket. At times, because of the pressure to score runs, there is an error in judgement.”