'Conditions were same for both teams'

With the match referee deciding to resume the fourth day's play of the third Test between India and South Africa, he may have stopped the issue getting snowballed into a big controversy.

The decision to halt the play on day three obviously didn't go well with the Indians who had made it clear to match referee that they had no problems continuing with play.

"The match referee called me during tea time and said 'just in case if the wicket were to get dangerous (unfit for play, is what the match referee said), then captains would be consulted to take the game forward,' " Indian team manager Sunil Subramaniam said.

"We held the view that the wicket has been the same for both teams for all three days. And today is the day when least wickets fell and the strike rates were the highest. (we said) we'd like to continue to play," he said.

When asked as to why the day's play was called off, Subramaniam said it was "because of the ball that struck Dean Elgar on the helmet."

Subramaniam thought the ball that hit Elgar wasn't a dangerous one. "There has been an exaggerated bounce on this wicket but the ball to Elgar was not the one that cut alarmingly. This is what has been happening the last three days. So, there was nothing new," he stressed.

SA view

South African team manager Mohammad Moosajee admitted it was an embarrassing moment for Cricket South Africa (CSA). "There is no doubt that questions are going to be asked about the preparations of the pitch," Moosajee said.