SA v India 2018: Johannesburg Test to continue despite pitch controversy

The third Test match between South Africa and India will continue as per schedule, and the South African batsmen are set to be tested on a wicket that wore an ‘evil’ look. Controversy broke out after uneven bounce became the centre of attention at the Wanderers. Both Indian and Proteas batters coped with several blows as certain deliveries looked unplayable.

The third day’s play witnessed a premature end after Dean Elgar suffered a blow on the helmet grill, as a delivery from Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah raised a few notch higher than normal. The Indian team’s body language was upbeat, and they wanted to continue playing while the hosts too didn’t seem any less interested.

Holding slams the pitch

Former West Indies cricketer Michael Holding slammed the pitch and rated it poorly. He said:

“You can interpret that. They should have called it off when (Murali) Vijay got hit. This is not a cricket pitch, this is dangerous. Call it off, forget it. You can’t play cricket on that. I have no idea what has gone wrong, but I know it’s not a good cricket pitch. The last time I saw something like this, the match was abandoned in Jamaica in 1998, and it didn’t even last this long.”

Rahane calls the wicket ‘challenging.’

India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane though had a different opinion and said that the wicket is challenging but not ‘dangerous’.

“Wicket was challenging. It was similar for both the teams. Vijay scored 25 runs. Our openers played well. When me and Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] were batting, we were not thinking about the wicket but focusing on the delivery.” he said.

Virat Kohli and his men will look to make full use of the nature of the pitch and bag a much-needed win to salvage some pride, having lost the first two Tests. The match is expected to start on time.