After a terrible collapse on Day 3 of the Guwahati Test against South Africa, former India coach Ravi Shastri criticized the Indian batsmen, calling their performance “very ordinary” on a surface he believed offered no demons.
His critique followed Shaun Pollock’s comment that some of the wickets were “soft,” adding that it may have made sense “if they had come off some brilliant deliveries.” In order to highlight India’s responsibility, the former South African bowler even guided spectators through a handful of the dismissals.
This surface is still nice. This is not a 142 for 7 pitch. regular hitting. India won’t be pleased at all. As India collapsed under persistent pressure from the visitors, Shastri summed it up as “you have to put your hands up and say that’s very ordinary batting.”
A number of avoidable mistakes led to the catastrophe. With his hands well in front, KL Rahul lunged for a Keshav Maharaj delivery, but the ball popped off the splice for an easy catch in the slips. After a smooth half-century, his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal was hit by a delivery that appeared to stop on him and was check-punched straight to short third man.
Recalled to the starting lineup, Sai Sudharsan wasted a good start by dragging an innocuous Simon Harmer delivery to midwicket. After defeating Harmer in the first Test, Dhruv Jurel selected the incorrect bowler for the identical shot, dragging a wide Marco Jansen delivery to mid-on.
Pollock shook his head at Rishabh Pant’s ejection. For what the announcer called a “old-school slog,” the wicketkeeper-batter rushed down the track in an attempt to drag a ball that was slanted across him. Even though the spike was readily visible, he feathered an edge and, perplexingly, reviewed the verdict.
India struggled to 174 for 7 at lunch in response to South Africa’s commanding 489, and as the day went on, they continued to decline. On a day when the rest of the batting order crumbled against disciplined bowling, only Jaiswal (58 off 97) and Washington Sundar (33*, subsequently extending the stand) gave fight. Harmer contributed 2 for 61, but Marco Jansen was unrelenting, finishing with 4 for 43.
The hosts lost three more wickets in the second session and were 102 for 4 by tea. Washington and Kuldeep Yadav (14*) stayed firm in an uninterrupted seventh-wicket stand worth 52 off 141 balls, preventing India from falling farther behind.
However, the parade went on all around them. Aiden Markram ran across from slips to finish an outstanding catch after Nitish Reddy gloved a Jansen bouncer off the splice to gully. When Ravindra Jadeja attempted to challenge another Jansen bouncer, he was only able to deflect it off the shoulder onto the bat, looping tamely to the slips. Pollock noted on JioCinema, “Very soft dismissals,” which prompted Shastri to reiterate his criticism of poor judgment and lack of application.
There are a lot of unanswered questions with Indian batsmen. Next year, India will not host a Test series. They have plenty of time to reconsider their strategy at the level of Test matches. Former India opener Abhinav Mukund echoed rising worries about the team’s red-ball direction when he said, “This performance against South Africa will definitely hurt.”
