Guwahati, November 23. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav defended the Indian bowling unit on Sunday after they struggled to dismiss the South African lower order quickly, comparing the pitch at the Barsapara Stadium to a road. The South African lower-order batters managed to push the team's first-innings score to 489 runs.
While batters faced significant difficulties during the first Test of the series in Kolkata, the spinners found little assistance from the surface here. As per agency report, when asked to compare the pitches at the two venues, Kuldeep remarked in a sarcastic tone that the Kolkata wicket was different while the current one resembled a completely flat road, making it challenging and justifying the term Test match.
Kuldeep emerged as the most successful bowler for India in the first innings, claiming four wickets for 115 runs in 29.1 overs. It remains to be seen how BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia perceives these comments, given that this is the first Test match being hosted at his home ground and a senior player has offered a less than favorable assessment of the pitch.
Emphasizing the need for resilience in adverse conditions, the spinner noted that the game is not always about dominance but also about how the team bounces back on a good batting track. He admitted it was a difficult wicket for bowlers as it did not offer much assistance. He observed that the surface did not seem helpful for fast bowlers either, but added that players must enjoy the challenge of Test cricket rather than stressing over the nature of the pitch. He suggested that as players mature, they play without thinking too much about the wicket, adding that there were no complaints as the next venue might offer better conditions.
Elaborating on the conditions, Kuldeep mentioned that there was some moisture in the opening session of the match which provided a bit of turn, but the subsequent five sessions offered no help to the spinners. He expressed frustration that neither yesterday nor today provided assistance to the slow bowlers, a point he discussed with teammate Ravindra Jadeja. However, he expressed satisfaction that India restricted South Africa to just 69 runs in the first session by bowling tight lines. He acknowledged that Marco Jansen batted well and capitalized on the opportunities, which usually happens when partnerships are long and the wicket is conducive to batting.
