IND vs SA: "Please Bowl Short Balls" - 'Disappointed' Irfan Pathan Offers Suggestion To Dismiss Dean Elgar

Former Indian all-rounder and 2007 ICC T20 World Cup winner, Irfan Pathan while speaking to Star Sports after India‘s shambolic loss to South Africa in the 1st Test, gave a suggestion, somewhat an antidote to Indian bowlers on how to get Dean Elgar out when the 2nd Test starts from 3rd January at Newlands Cricket Ground.

Dean Elgar who is taking part in the final Test series of his career, single-handedly pushed the Indian side from victory with a fantastic knock which at one point looked like was not going to end. Dean Elgar smacked 185 off 287 deliveries which included 28 fours and had Indian bowlers absolutely frustrated with his resilience and resolve.

Host side captain Temba Bavuma had asked Rohit Sharma to bat first at Centurion with the South African bowlers getting into the act pretty quickly. Kagiso Rabada took the first wicket of Rohit Sharma for just 5 runs before debutant Nandre Burger removed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

As the partnership of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer started to cook, Rabada came back and broke the partnership and took out both of their wickets before completing his 14th Test 5-wicket haul by grabbing wickets of Ashwin and Shardul.

India’s hopes of posting a competitive 1st inning total looked very bleak and if it wasn’t for KL Rahul’s 101 off 137, the visitors would not have even scored 245. In response, Indian bowlers had no option but to perform at their very best to secure any chances of winning the 1st Test.

However, after losing Aiden Markram early on, South Africa had full control of things in the middle with Dean Elgar, as the driving force. His shot selection, calmness, and will to produce a solid performance in his farewell Test series led the Proteas towards a splendid win by an innings and 32 runs to solidify their position in the WTC points table.

“The Short Ball Troubles Dean Elgar”, Irfan Pathan Suggests Indian Bowling Line-Up

Irfan Pathan criticized the Indian bowling lineup for not doing enough to get Dean Elgar out early on in the 2nd innings. He also claimed that the bowlers lacked patience and sharpness in their planning and that was the reason why their attacking bowling did not work when Elgar was set.

“Elgar is known to have problems with the short ball. You bowled short balls to him when he was batting at 60-70. In the next match, please bowl short balls to him early. He got out to short balls in 4 times in Australia and I talked about that too in the commentary. You have to bowl very well in the second match to level the series,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.

“India did not have any sharpness in their bowling. The Indian bowling unit did not get the balance of attack vs defence right. When Elgar got set, even then India continued their attacking bowling as if they would get him out with one delivery.” – Irfan Pathan concluded

Dean Elgar will take part in his final Test match for the Proteas when the 2nd Test starts at Newlands. In his Test career which began in December 2012, has scored 5331 runs in 150 innings, including 14 Hundreds and 23 half-centuries at an average of 38.35.