Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that India did not have a plan while bowling to South Africa in the first Test of the series. Playing the Boxing Day Test match in Centurion, India lost the game by an innings and 32 runs.
Speaking on Star Sports, Irfan stated that India didn’t understand when to attack and when to defend against the rival batters. According to him, the visitors made a complete mess of the conditions in the game.
“India did not have any plan and sharpness in their bowling. The balance was not there as bowlers were not aware when to attack the rival batters or when to defend against them. When Dean Elgar was set, they didn’t use variations.”
The former India pacer further added that India were poor against Dean Elgar. He pointed out that Elgar doesn’t play short ball well early in the innings, but the Indian pacers only attacked him when he reached 70 runs.
Elgar scored 185 runs in South Africa’s only innings.
“Elgar doesn’t play short ball well early in his innings. However, he was targeted with short stuff after he had scored 70 runs. In the second Test, please bowl short balls to him early in the innings. Australia got rid of him on four occasions using short balls. You will have to bowl well to win the upcoming game,” he concluded.
The final match will be played from 3 January in Cape Town.
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