South Africa (Commonwealth) _India’s cricket captain, Rohit Sharma, has struck out at critics of Indian pitches after his team beat South Africa by seven wickets in four-and-a-half sessions of the five-day match, the quickest ever in a Test match.
Following the hosts’ success in the first Test, India’s victory over South Africa on a seaming surface with variable bounce at Newlands brought the two-match series to a 1-1 tie. Speaking to media after the triumph in Cape Town on Thursday, Rohit demanded a reassessment of pitch ratings, claiming India was unfairly criticized.
India’s victory produced the Test match the quickest ever in terms of balls bowled in a win, after the visitors set an atmosphere by bowling the home side out for 55 prior to lunch on day one, largely thanks to player of the match Mohammed Siraj, who got six wickets for 15 runs.
In either innings, the next best performance by any of Markram’s teammates was 15. Rohit called the circumstances as risky, but said that he had no difficulty playing on them as long as it was understood that Indian wickets would turn from the start.
I am okay with appearing on pitches like this as long as everyone in India keeps their mouths shut and no one talks about Indian pitches, Rohit told reporters. Yes, it is risky, but you came to South Africa to test yourself, and you must confront it. Rohit feels that match referees judge pitches differently in different countries.
When it turns on day one in India, people comment, ‘Oh, there is a puff of dust’. We must remain objective, especially match officials. I’d like to know how the pitches are evaluated. I’m still amazed that the [Cricket] World Cup final pitch [in Ahmedabad] was deemed below par. There was a player [Australia’s Travis Head] who made a hundred there.
They have to evaluate pitches based on what they observe, not on where they are located.” On day one, there should be no change in pitch rating based on spin or seam, according to Rohit. We know that pitches in India spin, but many dislike it because it turns from the first ball. But what if it comes from ball one? That is not right.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s stand-in captain Dean Elgar announced his retirement from Test cricket after a “bit of a journey” with “amazing memories” as an international cricketer. Following the loss of 23 wickets on the first day, the second morning became a duel between Aiden Markram and India’s Jasprit Bumrah.
Apart from Markram, who smashed 106 off 103 balls in South Africa’s second innings of 176, batters battled on a surface with pace, seam movement, and variable bounce throughout the match. The Indian spinner collected six for 61 and was denied Markram’s wicket when the batsman edged a drive on 71 and wicketkeeper KL Rahul couldn’t hold a catch above his head.
Markram defied a wicket on which Virat Kohli scored 46 in India’s first innings, but South Africa were bowled out for 176 runs in their second innings by lunch. India faced a difficult chase of 79 on a pitch with inconsistent bounce.
Yashasvi Jaiswal earned 28 points from 23 balls, including six boundaries. He was apprehended at the long leg of Nandre Burger. Rohit survived two dropped catches to finish unbeaten on 17 not out. Kagiso Rabada finished the brief series with 11 wickets after bowling Shubman Gill for ten.
When India were four runs away from their fifth triumph on South African soil, Marco Jansen nicked off Virat Kohli for 12 runs. Shreyas Iyer smashed a boundary five balls later to seal the historic triumph.
