Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini who was a commentator for the two Test series between South Africa and India said that batters have to grind it out and graft their way to score runs in South Africa. “I liked Rahul Dravid’s mentality to show patience when he played for his country. You cannot open out in the first over of a Test match,’’ said Ntini, who played 101 Tests and took 390 wickets at an average of 28.83.
Excerpts:
Q. South Africa and India shared the honours in the short series. How would you sum it up?
A. The massive first innings lead of 163 created positivity for the fast bowlers to express themselves and bowl India cheaply (131) as they did and win the first Test by an innings and 32 runs. Well, everybody saw what happened in the two weeks the teams played two Tests. South Africa put up a score of 408 in the first innings and won.
I did not see the pitch at Newlands. From my point of view, South Africa was bowled out for 55 because of a good spell by Mohammed Siraj.
The first-day pitch always supports the bowlers. The pitch was fresh and hard, but I did not expect South Africa to be rolled over for 55 runs. Siraj found the good spots on the pitch and he consistently hit those areas. And South Africa played the wrong line. The batters were lacking in their judgment to leave the ball.
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Q. India was also bowled out for 153, losing six wickets at the same score of 153!
A. When I look at how India played, they wanted to be aggressive. India’s batters must have seen the spots where their bowlers bowled, and feared what would happen if the South African bowlers landed on the area from where the ball had misbehaved.
Especially on the pavilion side and that’s why Lungi Ngidi could get three wickets in an over. It all started with Rahul’s dismissal. I would say that the run-getters in the match, Virat Kohli and Aiden Markram played the ball and not the pitch. The other batters played the pitch. That’s my thinking.
Q. So India had to come back strongly despite having a lead of 98 runs and Jasprit Bumrah took the responsibility.
A. Bumrah bowled well, he bowled aggressively. He struck in the first over and created negativity in the minds of the South African batters. As I said before, Markram played the ball and not the pitch. These are the things we looked at while analysing as commentators.
There was a communication gap; it should have happened between the batter returning to the pavilion and the batter coming into bat. The message should have been ``leave the ball that’s not directed at the stumps and play the ball that would have probably hit the stumps.”
Q. The fast bowlers dominated the two Test matches, but there were two centuries in the South African side (Dean Elgar in the first Test and Markram in the second) and one century in the Indian side (Rahul in the first innings of the first Test? So quality batters scored runs.
A. Yes of course. Look at the India first innings score in the first Test (245); if Rahul had not scored that century, India would have been rolled over, and probably dismissed under 100 runs.
There are two sides to a coin. You can blame one for the first wrongdoing and then blame the other for the second wrongdoing. So where is the balance in all of that?
Q. The fast bowlers did well, but they were backed up by superb catching by the wicketkeepers and the slip cordon.
A. Oh yes, India held almost all the catches that came their way except when Rahul put down Markram in the 70s. South Africa too held its catches. Look both teams had blue ticks for bowling fielding and catching that one can write about. Those were the positives from the series.
Q. There have been criticisms about scheduling a two-Test series.
A. There cannot be a two-Test series. On most occasions and when there are two good sides, there won’t be a result. In a series like this one, it has become a 1-1 series. A series has to go in a five-Test series direction or at least three Tests. Why is India playing a five-Test series against England and a four-Test series against Australia? It’s not the case with other countries. There is no sense in playing a one-off Test or a two-Test series.
Q. India is yet to win a Test series in South Africa.
A. A two-Test series will not allow for a conclusive result.
The batters should be mentally prepared if they want to score runs here. One has to be a boring batter and show a lot of patience. I am reminded of Dravid who took time and played dot balls before scoring his first run. That attitude told you the mentality he had. He did not want to get out. He left the balls that he needed to leave and he defended the balls that were likely to hit the stumps. That told me that he was a true Test player.
Q. Would you say that the top three batters should grind it out or know to graft for runs in conditions here?
A. They need to do that. They have to make sure of doing that and make things easy for the other batters. You cannot open out in the first over of a Test match. If the ball doesn’t do much after 25/30 overs, then you have time to play a long innings.
Q. You must be happy that the fast bowlers took almost all the wickets in the series.
A. Most definitely. We took a count that most wickets fell on one side of the pitch, the other side was not even two hands full. The fast bowlers were quick to realise which side was suitable for them to bowl at. Not a single over from the spinners; both used four fast bowlers each.
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