Nagpur :South Africa are not going to hit out at the VCA Stadium pitch here on which 32 wickets have fallen in the first two days of the third and penultimate Test against India, said their coach Russell Domingo after day two today.
“You have to give India credit. They have prepared wickets that suit their style of play, and their spinners have been really good. They have bowled outstandingly well, and we won’t criticise the pitch right now,” said Domingo after twenty wickets tumbled on day two.The visitors were also shot out for their lowest ever Test score of 79 against India with the Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja capturing five and four wickets respectively, leaving leggie Amit Mishra to bag the remaining one.
“If you’re winning the series, it is easy to criticise the pitch, but when you’re behind in the series, it is difficult to criticise the pitch,” said Domingo.
He also did not rule out a series-levelling win, however improbable it may look, on the third day tomorrow.
“Some strange things have happened in this game before. We are obviously a long way behind this game at the moment, we are not discounting ourselves just yet,” said Domingo about the need for the visitors to get 278 more runs for an improbable win.
He said the main difference between his team’s spinners and their Indian counterparts was in the degree of consistency shown to snare the rival batsmen.
“Consistency (is the difference). I think the Indian spinners have landed the ball more consistently than our spinners, and asked questions for a longer period of time. We have landed the ball in good areas for two or three overs, and they have landed the ball in good areas for eight or nine overs. We have beaten the bat and given away the cheap single, and they haven’t. That has been the difference between the two set of spinners,” he added.
PTI