SA vs IND 2018: Where are the Expert's Now? Asks Ravi Shastri After India's Comprehensive Victory in Durban

Team India gained confidence from their Johannesburg victory in the final Test and went on to clinch the opening ODI of the six-match series against South Africa quite comprehensively to take a 1-0 lead in the.

It was a terrific chase by the visitors riding on a brilliant century by skipper Virat Kohli and a well composed 79 by Ajinkya Rahane.

Kohli carried on from where he left in the Test series, and the innings at Wanderers gave Rahane ample confidence which showed in his performance on Thursday. The duo shared a sensational stand of 189 which never really allowed South Africa to take control of the proceedings. Earlier, it was a brilliant spell of wrist spin bowling by the India duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were simply superb and bagged five wickets between them by conceding not too many. It was their combined performance which didn’t allow South Africa cross the 270 mark.

Skipper Faf du Plessis played a terrific knock as Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed him on 120 of 112 deliveries.

Following their sensational victory, Team India head coach Ravi Shastri spoke about a few aspects that raised so many questions over the last month or so. When asked about Bumrah’s selection in the Test series, Shastri said,

“It wasn’t an overnight decision. Close to six months ago, we began work on this. Bumrah was our surprise package coming here and did it work? Of course. Tell me the last time a bowler has delivered so confidently on debut and has been learning so quickly. He was among the most consistent. In Cape Town, he bowled us back into the Test from where we could have won. In Johannesburg, he was simply intimidating. People want to say a lot of things, but where are these people now?”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, despite a sensational performance in the opening Test, had to sit out from the 2^nd Test which didn’t go down well with many experts and Indian supporters.

Speaking on that aspect, Shastri said,

“Watch India’s first innings at Centurion. Quinton de Kock was keeping up front for Vernon Philander. That’s how slow the wicket was. Bringing in Ishant made all the difference. He has been phenomenal. We knew Bhuvi had to be played at the Wanderers and in fact, given the Centurion wicket – it had nothing for pace bowlers, leave alone swing – we knew Bhuvi would be fresh for the third Test. Ishant bowled beautifully in the first innings at Centurion; he got us both, AB & Faf and what a tireless effort it’s been from him. When did Ishant last bowl like this series? Not even Perth.”

Speaking on the constant chopping and changing Shastri stated,

“That’s why I’m saying, where are the experts now? What chopping and changing? Sometime during the Centurion Test, Ajinkya was getting back into his rhythm. He was knocking well in the nets and Rohit was struggling, so we decided to do whatever looked better at that point in time, and Ajinkya was in the eleven. And he scored at the Wanderers. Dropping or picking Bhuvi was not chopping or changing. It was a decision taken according to the pitch and the conditions. It’s simple, had we scored more runs in the second innings at Cape Town and the second innings at Centurion, this whole series would’ve been different.”

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