Former Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara believes India will be dissatisfied after allowing South Africa to score 489 in their first innings in the second test of the two-match series. The tourists batted 151.1 overs in almost six sessions to finish on 489.
Pujara’s remarks came following Stumps on Day 2. He stated that the hosts would have been lot more delighted if the Proteas’ final four wickets had fallen earlier.
“The Indian bowlers put in a lot of hard work, but the result didn’t go in their favour. There will be a little disappointment in the dressing room for sure, considering the way they bowled yesterday. They had picked up six wickets for less than 250, and even if they had got the remaining four wickets for 100 to 125 runs, they would have still been happy,” stated Pujara during an interaction on Star Sports.
The cricketer-turned-commentator maintained his stance, claiming that the Indian bowlers should have ensured that the last four wickets fell before the first innings total reached 350 runs.
“However, 489 is too many, especially since a lot of runs were scored for the last four wickets. Even if around 350 runs were scored on this wicket, one couldn’t have said bad bowling, but more than 450 should probably not have been scored, especially since you had dismissed the top-order batters and taken six wickets on the first day,” he added.
By the end of the Day 1, South Africa was down to 247/6. On the second day they fought another 69.2 overs before they had achieved the above total. Senuran Muthusamy was the best with 109 runs in 206 balls. Marco Jansen was also ranked number 9, with 93 out of 91. The best bowlers were Kuldeep Yadav (4/115 in 29.1 overs). Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj who bowled 32 and 30 overs respectively, got 2 wickets each.
India are the trailers of the series following the defeat by 30 runs against the first match in Kolkata. What will be interesting is how they deal with the bat in Guwahati. South Africa now is in the better position in this game.
