In a series of low-scoring innings, another was added as India were skittled out for 215 on the first day in Nagpur. No batsman could muster up a half-century as M Vijay’s 40 was the highest individual score.
Even as India’s batting came up short on a pitch that offered turn from the first session, batting coach, Sanjay Bangar put his weight behind the boys.
“All our batsmen really applied themselves well. When the wicket is slightly challenging, there are likely to be certain errors in judgment. But that is just a part of the game,” Bangar said.
“It is a very challenging wicket to score. So far we have had six completed innings in the series and this has been a low scoring series, which we need to accept.”
Even as South Africa’s off-spinner, Simon Harmer, picked up four wickets, the damage was done earlier by Morne Morkel, who was getting the ball to reverse swing prodigiously in the very first session. His double strike of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane post lunch turned the tables in the visitors’ favour. Bangar admitted that Morkel’s ploy of altering his length and bowling fuller coupled with the reverse swing did the batsmen in.
“When the ball starts to reverse swing, at most times the batsmen expect the ball to come on their pads and end up playing slightly outside the line, and that results in edges, as it happened with Virat. Because of the slow nature of the wicket, not many runs can be scored in front of the wicket. Due to the pressure of scoring runs, at times there is an error in judgment.
“There was really smart adjustment by Morne Morkel as far as his length is concerned. In the first session he was dragging his length back, which is his normal length. But what we noticed in the second session was that he pushed his length further. That was something of a challenge for our batsmen and we are already thinking about it,” he said.
The series has been played on spin friendly pitches and both teams have struggled to get a sizeable score on the board. Elucidating on the skills needed to succeed on such wickets, Bangar said, “Patience is a very important virtue when playing on these wickets.
“Also, when you are playing the spinning ball, it is important that you trust your defence all the time. You either have to try to get to the pitch of the ball as much as you can, use the depth of the crease or use your feet. The batsmen who got starts did exhibit that and that was the reason they lasted that much longer.”
