India had a tiring second day in the ongoing Test match in Guwahati against South Africa. With the least assistance to the bowlers, the visitors enjoyed their day as they posted a mammoth 489 runs in their first
innings. India could not find breakthroughs once the ball softened and conditions eased. Kuldeep Yadav took 4 for 115, but he bowled quicker than usual and lost some of the drift and deception that worked on the opening day.
Addressing the media after the first day’s play, Kuldeep spoke to the media and compared the 22-yard strip at the Barsapara Stadium to a ‘road’ due to the benign nature of the surface.
“Kolkata ka wicket toh alag thaa. Yeh to pura road tha (Kolkata’s wicket was different, and this was a whole road). So, it’s challenging and that’s why it’s called a Test wicket,” said Kuldeep.
However, Kuldeep did maintain that one needs to show fighting abilities to counter adverse conditions.
“It is not always about domination, but it is also very important how you come back on a good batting surface. It was a difficult wicket for the bowlers because I didn’t feel that there was a lot of help in this wicket.”
For Kuldeep, one must move on quickly and not stress oneself thinking about the nature of the track.
“Even for fast bowlers it didn’t seem like a lot of help, but yeah, this is Test cricket and you should enjoy it. You should enjoy, learn more and the more you mature, you shouldn’t think too much about the wicket. You should go there and play. Next Test, there could be a better wicket, so no complaints,” he added.
He was quick to point out that after the opening session on the first day, when some underlying moisture was still at play, there was no help for the slow bowlers in the last five sessions.
“Personally I felt yesterday’s first session, there was a bit of moisture in the wicket, so I got a little bit of turn there in the first session. After that, it was very good to bat on,” he said.
“There wasn’t any turn yesterday, as well as today. Today was much better to bat on because I hardly got any turn. Even me and Jadeja, we have been talking about that,” he said, and one could gauge the frustration in his voice.
(With PTI Inputs)
