Batting great Sunil Gavaskar was surprised by South African captain Dean Elgar’s decision to bat first after India bowled out South Africa for a meagre 55 at the stroke of lunch on Day 1 of the second Test in Cape Town.
Mohammed Siraj took a career-best 6 for 15 as India exploited a lively wicket to run through South Africa’s batting line-up and bowl the home side out for 55. Siraj bowled excellently during a nine-over spell after South Africa chose to bat. Captain Dean Elgar had earlier described the pitch as tricky, likening it to having a few surprises, but South Africa’s batting also suffered due to some bad shot choices.
Gavaskar pointed out that the Indian team, having suffered a defeat and poor batting performance in the previous innings, would have been on the back foot if they were to bat first on a fresh pitch. He suggested that South Africa could have capitalized on this vulnerability by choosing to bowl first, especially given their strong fast bowling lineup and the fact that India had not played any cricket between the matches.
“Well, I tell you what I was a bit surprised by what happened. Because a lot of times, captains and coaches make a deal about what the pitch is gonna be. I think you’ve also got to look at the psychology of the Indian team, having been defeated in three days, having batted so poorly in the second innings and gonna be batting first on a fresh pitch would have been just a little bit defensive. And I have thought that be South Africans with the fast bowlers that they have in their in their lineup could look to take advantage of the fact that they have not played any cricket in between and therefore put them put them in,” Sunil Gavaskar said while speaking to Star Sports.
Drawing parallels to a past incident, Gavaskar recalled how Australia, after bowling India out for 36 runs in a Test match two years prior, chose to bat first in Melbourne on a pitch with more grass than the one in Adelaide. This decision did not pay off as India managed to dismiss Australia for 190 and then took control of the match. Gavaskar implied that Elgar could have learned from this example and used it to his advantage by putting India in to bat, thereby applying pressure on an already tentative Indian batting lineup.
“Something similar happened in Australia two years ago, Australia dismissed India for 36. The next Test played in Melbourne, where the grass on the pitch was three millimetres more than the one at Adelaide. Australia batted first. India dismissed them for 190 got back in the game by the and they came into the bat on Day two. Here, it’s not Day two. The pitch had eased up considerably, so the psychology would have been. I mean, if I was the captain, I would have said No, I’m going to try and take advantage of the fact that they are not certain I’d like to insert India in,” Gavaskar added.
