Subcontinental faults: India’s batsmen must adapt quickly

Cape Town,
India’s chase of 208 for victory in the first Test was effectively over in the 24th over, when Rohit Sharma was out, leaving India tottering at 76/5. The South Africans were bowling with discipline and guile, and defeat was inevitable.India had lost their fifth wicket at the same score in the first innings, when Cheteshwar Pujara had played a very loose shot to make it 76/5 for India. Subcontinental shots
Through the two innings, some of the Indian batsmen got unplayable deliveries, like Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha in the second innings. Many others, though, perished because they were playing Subcontinental shots on South African wickets. In India, you can easily drive the ball only on the basis of its length most of the time. You can’t do that in South Africa because the ball is liable to deviate sharply after hitting the wicket — it can either hit the seam to move in or out, or bounce very unexpectedly.Bad starters
The two openers played bad shots in both the innings. Murali Vijay chased a wide one in the first innings and edged an away-going one in the second; Shikhar Dhawan tried to pull two of best short-ball bowlers in world cricket and paid the price.Pujara attempted a terrible shot in the first innings and got a fantastic ball in the second. Virat Kohli jabbed at a ball that rose and moved away in the first, and hit a typical Subcontinental shot in the second — the ball seamed in off the wicket and the India captain tried a wristy shot to the leg-side. He had no chance of pulling it off.In the first innings, Rohit Sharma missed a quick ball that came in sharply; in the second, he tried a very low percentage, purposeless poke at a Vernon Philander ball and edged it on to his stumps.India’s No. 6, Hardik Pandya, benefitted from a dropped catch in the first innings to flay a 95-ball 93, but lasted only five balls in the second, guiding a widish ball to AB de Villiers at gully. Tough track
It was a tough wicket to bat on — South Africa, used to such conditions, were shot out for 130 in the second innings. In the first, it was very skilful batting by de Villiers and Faf du Plessis that salvaged their innings from 12/3. The two stalwarts, and the lower-order batsmen, played their shots when they could and got the team to 286. Kohli said yesterday that the Indian batsmen need to take the attack to South Africa by playing their shots. “We need to think about taking the attack to the South African bowlers more. That is something for all the batsmen, starting at the very top,” he said.That makes sense, because you can get stuck in a defensive rut on such challenging tracks. But Kohli and Co. need to make sure to play shots that are more suited to South African wickets than to Indian wickets. They need to drive after reaching the pitch of the ball, and completely banish cross-batted shots against fuller balls. Will they be able do it? We’ll get the answer soon enough.