Surprised Bumrah, Rohit were picked, says SA skipper Faf du Plessis

CAPE TOWN: South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said he was surprised by India’s decision to blood Jasprit Bumrah and select Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane in the first Test which the hosts won by 72 runs at Newlands.

“We didn’t think Bumrah would play. We know he’s done really well in ODIs, but we were preparing more for the other seamers because they’ve played a lot of Tests. The other guy was Rohit ahead of Rahane. He’s been in a bit of form one-day cricket wise, so they’re probably just running with that. Apart from that, we made sure we looked at all other guys,” said du Plessis.

SA too chose one batsman less. But he said it was a risk worth taking. “The decision of picking a team was definitely the hardest I have been involved in. Playing seven batters on a pitch that offers a bit more seam is a very good call. But I just thought if you have Steyn, Morkel, Philander, Rabada – that’s four bowlers -you can’t look past,” he said.

On the batting collapse, he said: “We expected that first hour to be tough. But we knew if we could get through that -- our assessment of the pitch was that it would speed up.

“I knew the new ball was going to be key for us and that if we got wickets with the new ball, we can get through their batting line-up. They’ve got a few quality players in there but once you can put a bit of pressure on them, I thought we can get through them.”

Du Plessis praised Philander. “If there’s something in the wicket, he’s as good as you get around the world. What impressed me most today was he wanted to bowl overs. He didn’t say after three or four overs ‘that’s enough’. He wanted the ball and wanted to make a plan. That’s all you ask for...”

WORKING KOHLI OUT

Philander said keeping Virat Kohli quiet was crucial. “Virat is an aggressive player and the key is to keep him quiet and make sure you set him up for the other one. Initially, it was for me to keep him quiet, and I always knew I had the one coming back.”

“It was two-and-a-half overs of away swingers and then the one back into him. It was a plan to keep him quiet, and also to drag him across to make sure when you do bowl the other one, he’s on the other side of the off-stump.”