Durban: South Africa pacer Morne Morkel was surprised at the nature of pitch on offer at the Kingsmead here after India today took early control of the series-deciding second cricket Test by finishing day one on a commanding 181 for one.
Morkel termed the Kingsmead pitch as a "sub-continent like wicket" after Murali Vijay struck a delightful unbeaten 91 and together with Cheteshwar Pujara (58 not out) added unconquered 140 runs for the second wicket before bad light brought a premature end to the opening day's proceedings.
"I am very surprised with the wicket here. It looks like a sub-continent wicket," Morkel said at the post-day's press conference. "It is really dry and a little on the slower side. After the 13th over, the ball looked like it was 60 overs old," he said.
"But as a bowling unit we need to soak it in. We need to bowl according to a plan, only to one side of the wicket. We need to stop the flow of runs, if wickets don't come our way. It is a good break for us, and we can go back and re-plan for tomorrow," Morkel added.
Morkel was the only wicket-taker of the day for the Proteas, sending back Shikhar Dhawan for just 29 runs with India's score on 41 at that time. "We are hoping the ball can reverse a bit more tomorrow. We need to come out and stick to a plan and take a couple of early wickets while they aren't settled. And then wait for the new ball," he said.
Morkel was almost ruled out for this Test match after twisting his ankle on day three of the first match at Johannesburg.
"I had an MRI scan done and they said it was a grade three injury. Then we did a sonar scan and we found out it was only grade one. So I went into rehab and worked hard with our medical team. They did some magic and the swelling went away and we worked on fitness. I am really happy to be playing this match, especially since this is Jacques Kallis' last Test," he said.
Kallis had led the team onto the field in the morning. In fact, he was allowed to venture out 10 seconds before his mates joined him. The crowd gave him a rousing and standing ovation and he responded with raised hands and a bow with his hat.
"It was a big shock for me. I found out two days ago. I guess he had been planning this for some time and maybe this news gave me 10 per cent more inspiration to get fit and play this match. He is a very good friend of mine and I didn't want to miss his last match," Morkel added.
Quite clearly, South Africa want to give Kallis a resounding farewell and to do that, they need to beat India at this ground, where they have lost their last four Tests.
"To be honest, we didn't talk about the past record. We can't control that. When we arrived here, we heard about Kallis and with how we finished at Wanderers, we were pumped up for this game. To me it doesn't matter if we bat or bowl first, we need to make a good start. And it will be crucial what we do tomorrow morning," Morkel said.
"I hope we don't lose too many overs because of the weather. I hope it is a good Test and a good farewell (for Kallis)," he signed off.
Sometimes Indian bowlers get unwarranted criticism: Dawes
Sometimes Indian bowlers get unwarranted criticism: Dawes
Durban: Indian bowlers might have drawn flak after failing to win the first cricket Test on a responsive wicket at Johannesburg, but bowling coach Joe Dawes backed his wards, saying "sometimes they get unwarranted criticism".
In the drawn first Test at Johannesburg, Indian bowlers couldn't bowl out the hosts on a wicket that aided them, despite defending a mammoth 458-run target. And it remains to be seen how many runs Mahendra Singh Dhoni will think are enough on what is the flattest Kingsmead pitch here seen in recent years.
"Yes, it was a disappointing that we couldn't bowl them out on a pitch that was doing something. However, it was a matter of just one partnership that saved the match for them. It happens, that's cricket for you," Dawes said after the opening day's play of the second Test today.
"But sometimes the Indian bowlers get unwarranted criticism. So far we are yet to lose a Test this year, and we have won every ODI series except the one here in South Africa. They bowled well in the Champions Trophy and sometimes not so well in the sub-continent. At such times, criticism is merited. However, it gets over the top at most times," he added, defending his players.
India were in total control of the series-deciding second cricket Test against South Africa before bad light brought a premature end to the opening day's play and Dawes expectedly couldn't hide his disappointment.
The umpires took the two batsmen, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, along with the Proteas off, almost 90 minutes before the scheduled close of play.
India were comfortably placed at 181 for one with Vijay batting on 91 and Pujara on 58. "We were in a very good position. Our batsmen were doing pretty well," said the Indian team's bowling coach. "It is a disappointment really that we had to come off.
"South Africa were trying everything, trying hard to come at our batsmen. They tried attacking with the short ball and coming round the wicket. It didn't work. We would have liked to keep them in the field for six hours, but we can't control the weather conditions," Dawes added.
The second day's play will start thirty minutes early tomorrow and India will be looking to press on. "Tomorrow we have to come back and press our advantage, try and get a high total. Then afterwards we have to bowl well. The pitch should take some turn later on and reverse swing will also come in to play. We will do our best to take 20 wickets later in the game," said Dawes.
India made an interesting change in their playing eleven for this particular Test match, bringing in Ravindra Jadeja for off-spinner R Aswhin after the latter went wicket-less in two innings at the Wanderers. "There is nothing wrong with Ashwin," Dawes answered when asked pertinently about the reason behind the change.
"He has played almost every single Test for us this year. But look at Jadeja as well, he has done really well since playing that Test series versus Australia. We felt that maybe Jadeja fits better in the scheme of things for this Test match. In terms of what we are trying to achieve as a bowling unit, in these conditions, Jadeja seemed a better choice."
