‘Indian bowlers searched too much for things’ – Allan Donald on India’s performance in 1st Test against South Africa
India and South Africa locked horns for the 1st test match of the 2-match test series of India’s tour of South Africa at Centurion, which the former lost on the 3rd day by an innings. Former South African cricketer Allan Donald recently highlighted the tactics the Indian team should have followed to win the first test match.
Donald discussed that South African pictures are not easy to play considering they don’t offer much assistance to the batters but all batsmen need to do is work on their footwork to perform well here. While recalling the great time spent by Sachin Tendulkar on these speeches he discussed how he was the only person who knew how to play well in South Africa.
“It’s not an easy place to combat. We see that every day in South Africa, the ball does nip around more than it does in Australia or England. If your footwork isn’t 100 per cent, then you are in trouble,” Allan Donald told Sportskeeda.
Allan Donald analyses the Indian squad’s performance in the 1st Test
“The only person I know who played us well was Tendulkar, who triggered (had a trigger movement) while batting in South Africa rather than stand on middle stump. He pressed forward and left the ball amazingly well,” Donald said.
“If you leave the ball well here, you can score runs. You got to get bowlers to come to you and search a little bit more. They start coming to you, and the opportunities of scoring get better. It’s an interesting phenomenon as it’s tough to bat. In Cape Town though, it will be a very good Test pitch. It will flatten out quickly, so you need to work very hard,” he added.
“For India, there was one debutant (Prasidh Krishna). I thought (Jasprit) Bumrah, but Indian bowlers searched too much for things to happen. They quickly reverted to shorter balls and then lost their length a bit on the shorter side and then got opened up on either side – square leg, offside and SA batters capitalised,” Donald concluded.
