IND vs SA: "Indian Bowlers Searched..." - Allan Donald Questions Indian Pacers' Patience In 1st Test
India lost the first Test against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion by a huge margin. They lost the match by an innings and 32 runs on what was a bowler’s friendly wicket. South African legend Allan Donald reckons that the Indian pace bowlers were not patient enough on a good bowling surface during the opening Test against South Africa. This is one of the virtues that the bowlers will need in abundance in a batting paradise in Newlands.
The Centurion pitch had a lot of bounce and lateral movement but still, the Indian pacers failed to capitalise on that wicket and gave a lot of runs. South Africa crossed the 400-run mark on a bowler’s friendly Centurion where Dean Elgar scored 185 and a bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen was unbeaten on 85. Bowlers like Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj were all not patient enough.
“I know South Africa probably got the better of the conditions, no questions about that. They pitched the ball in a 5 and 5.5-meter area and gave it a chance to do something off the deck. But what they did better than India…they were more patient in that area and even they used the short ball a little bit more in the second innings,” Allan Donald, a fearsome pacer of his generation, decoded India’s defeat in an interview to PTI.
The South African legend also known as the ‘White Lightening’ reckons that Indians were waiting for something to happen. India lost the plot in the bowling when they resorted back to short balls which gave the SA batters a perfect opportunity to capitalize and score easy runs. Dean Elgar was at his resilient best, scoring 185 with 28 fours in his innings.
Allan Donald Gives Reason Why He Feels Cape Town Test Will Be Tougher
“For India, there was one debutant (Prasidh Krishna). I thought (Jasprit) Bumrah, but Indian bowlers searched too much for things to happen. They quickly reverted to shorter balls and then lost their length a bit on the shorter side and then got opened up on either side – square leg, offside and SA batters capitalized,” said Allan Donald
Allan Donald talked about Cape Town being an even more difficult challenge for the bowlers. He reckons that the batting paradise will be the tougher Test for both the bowling attacks as the pitch there is flatter and is good for stretching partnerships.
“Come Cape Town, it will be hard work and there will be a lot more energy from both teams. Cape Town will be hard work and it will bring honesty out of both attacks. You need to be more creative in Cape Town as wickets are a lot more flatter and partnerships will stretch and that’s traditionally as someone who knows it will be tougher Tests,” Allan Donald added.
Rohit Sharma-led Indian team have already lost the first Test and now they have to win the second one in order to improve their PCT on the WTC Points Table. Currently, India are sixth on the WTC table with a PCT of 38.89 whereas South Africa stand at the top with a PCT of 100.
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Allan Donald IND vs SA 2023-24 India National Cricket Team South Africa National Cricket Team
