IND vs SA: Indian Bowlers Unfortunate, But South African Batsmen Showed Guts & Determination: Ali Bacher

Former South African skipper Ali Bacher kept his opinion on the recently concluded India vs South Africa Test series. India lost the series 2-1 after winning the opening Test in Centurion. What followed was the stepping down of Virat Kohli as India’s Test captain and several doubts as to what might have led him to do that. Kohli still remains an important part of the Indian team across formats for the next four to five years.

Bacher in an exclusive interview to News 18, spoke about how he thought both the teams fared in the series. He said that the Indian bowlers were unfortunate not to extract the maximum benefit from the pitches.

The Indian Bowlers Were Unlucky: Ali Bacher

“All three pitches were the batsmen’s nightmare and the fast bowlers’ paradise. The Indian fast bowlers missed the edge of the bat by a quarter or half-inch many times on the fourth morning at Cape Town. They were unlucky. And I have never seen a more gutsy and determined South African team. They have made the country proud,” said Bacher summing up the three-Test series.

He also kept his opinion on the three different pitches. Bacher said that all the three pitches favoured the pacers but he was surprised to see the uneven bounce in the Cape Town track. He also acknowledged the fact that batting was difficult on all the tracks. India’s first innings score of 327 in Centurion remained the highest score in the series.

“All the three pitches — the Centurion, The Wanderers and Newlands — aided the fast bowlers. There was a lot of rain at the Centurion and Johannesburg. So I understand that the pitches there aided the fast bowlers. I don’t know why the pitch became difficult for batting at Cape Town. Some balls kept low and some went miles over the wicketkeeper. Batting was difficult on all three pitches” Bacher further said.

Ali Backer also had a word of praise for the South African batsmen in the series. He said that they were without their experienced batsmen like AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis, Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis but still showed great guts and determination which he did not see before from any South African side.

“In these circumstances, this has been one of the gutsiest ever performances by a South African team. Man-for-man this South African team, the batters in particular, cannot compare with the likes of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. They were the superstars. Yet this inexperienced South African batter showed guts and determination that I have never seen before from any South African team in the past. And so this country will be proud of this South African team. They never gave up and won the series 2-1 after going down in the first Test at the Centurion” concluded Bacher.

Both teams now will play a three-match ODI series between January 19-23. The first two games (January 19, 21) will be played in Paarl while the third and final game will be played in Cape Town.

Also Read: I’m Not Surprised At All – Sunil Gavaskar On Virat Kohli’s Decision To Quit Test Captaincy