India eleven raises questions, again
CENTURION: For the second time in the most important overseas tour for 36 months, India went without vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane, the batsman with the best average outside the subcontinent. It was more or less on the cards given how Kohli scoffed at an unconvinced media on Friday. But did he read the pitch wrong too?
Day 1 hinted at that. Centurion was anticipated to be fast and bouncy without lateral movement. But with the harsh Highveld sun baking a bare pitch that was producing turn in the first session itself, it seems India might miss second spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
Not just on Saturday, Kohli seemed to have read the pitch differently on Friday too. South Africa captain Faf du Plessis had expressed concern about its brown look. “There is a thick layer of ground grass on it, which is not something we’re used to seeing. Hopefully it doesn’t turn,” he had sounded wary on Friday. Kohli held the opposite view. “It looks likely a
really lively pitch. Exactly what we expected it to be,” was what he said. After the Newlands loss, Kohli had said coach Ravi Shastri usually is the one responsible for reading the pitch. Not just as a player, but also as a commentator for nearly three decades, Shastri’s expertise is unquestionable. Yet India went with just one spinner, three pacers and a seambowling all-rounder, even after inspecting the pitch before toss. By the end of the day, Ashwin had got three wickets in 31 overs, Ishant accounted for AB de Villiers in his 16 and Jasprit Bumrah had bowled 18 overs. Barring the direct hit to run out Hashim Amla, Pandya didn’t threaten any batsmen in his 14 economical but wayward overs while MohammedShami doesn’t seem to shake off the bad habit of wasting the new ball. Only Ishant and Ashwin consistently made the batsmen uncomfortable, prompting the question why India went with just five batsmen in a Test they can’t afford to lose.
Ideally, two spinners could have been fielded with two pacers with Rahane as the sixth batsman, though Pandya saved the blushes in Newlands with a brave 94. Likewise, labelling Bhuvneshwar Kumar only as a seamer and dropping him while retaining the one-Test old Bumrah seems harsh on a bowler who not only took six wickets at Newlands but also scored a precious 25 in the first innings.
Parthiv Patel’s selection, in place of ‘injured’ Wriddhiman Saha, was an attempt to add batting depth. But he dropped Amla on 30, and he made 82. Significantly, it is now looking like a pitch where Shikhar Dhawan could have made an impact.
Shikhar Dhawan is the ‘Bali ka Bakra’ (scapegoat). His head is always on the chopping board. S GAVASKAR, on Shikhar’s exclusion
I also don’t understand why Ishant came in for Bhuvneshwar when he had taken three wickets. S GAVASKAR, on Ishant’s inclusion
I am surprised not to find Bhuvi in the playing XI today. In the first Test,he took the most number of wickets. VVS LAXMAN, on Bhuvneshwar