Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
On Day 1 of the first Test here at Eden Gardens, South Africa lost 10 wickets in 55 overs. From 114/3 at one stage, their innings folded for 159, after winning the toss and batting first. At the end of the day’s play, their batting coach Ashwell Prince spoke about the uneven bounce from the Eden Gardens pitch, while at the same time tipping his hat to Jasprit Bumrah.
“My assessment of the surface and I think probably after four or five deliveries in the first over where one rolled and went for four byes and then two or three balls later reared up, I think the signs were there pretty early on that the bounce is not consistent,” Prince said at the post-day press conference.
He elaborated: “Quite often what can happen is that when you expect batters to get to 20, 30 and grow in confidence, I don’t particularly believe that any of the batters grew in confidence because of the inconsistency of the bounce, and what can happen is that you don’t trust the surface as much as you should after spending an hour at the crease. And then, of course, when you face a quality bowling attack, they can more often than not get the ball in the danger area and it does too much for you, and unfortunately that’s been the case today.”
Prince, however, was full of praise for India’s bowling, spearheaded by Bumrah. “I think it was a sensational bowling display, particularly from Bumrah,” he said. “Siraj in his first spell did not quite hit his straps but came back in his second spell, when he changed ends and was pretty good, found his rhythm and found his line and length. But Bumrah was relentless and the spinners were pretty good as well. So, I think sometimes as batters there’s not a lot you can do about them, but we got to work hard. There is a long way to go in the game and hopefully we will go big in the second innings.”
Rabada fails fitness Test
The Proteas suffered a big blow as Kagiso Rabada was ruled out of the first Test due to a rib injury. The fast bowler sustained the injury during the team’s first training session on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he underwent a scan followed by a fitness test before the start of the match today. Rabada experienced discomfort and was ruled out. He is undergoing further assessments with the medical team and his participation in the second Test in Guwahati will depend on how things progress.
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