Irfan Pathan questioned India’s strategy against Dean Elgar in the first Test, where Elgar’s brilliant 185 helped South Africa secure a lead and maintain their unbeaten home Test record against India.
In his farewell series after announcing retirement, the 36-year-old Dean Elgar showcased a brilliant innings, scoring 185 off 287 deliveries.
His exceptional knock not only gave South Africa a substantial lead of 163 runs in the first innings but also preserved their unbeaten Test series record against India at home.
The Proteas secured a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series with a victory by an innings and 32 runs.
Pathan, in a post-match interview with Star Sports, highlighted that Elgar showed vulnerability against short deliveries, expressing his belief that the Indian bowlers failed to exploit this weakness promptly in the former South African skipper’s innings.
“Elgar is known to have problems with the short ball. You bowled short balls to him when he was batting at 60-70. In the next match, please bowl short balls to him early.”
“He got out to short balls in 4 times in Australia and I talked about that too in the commentary. You have to bowl very well in the second match to level the series,” said Pathan.
Elgar notched up his 14th Test century in 85 matches, securing his second against India. He maintains a batting average of 43.30 in 14 Tests against the Indian team. Due to Temba Bavuma’s injury, the left-hander is set to lead the Proteas for the first time in the second Test at Cape Town, beginning on January 3.
“Despite Elgar being well-set, India persisted with aggressive bowling, almost expecting to dismiss him with a single delivery”- Irfan Pathan criticizes India’s bowling attack
Irfan Pathan expressed dissatisfaction with India’s bowling performance in the first Test, pointing out a lack of discipline and a failure to find the right balance between attack and defense.
Despite a pitch conducive to seam movement, the hosts managed to score a substantial 408 in their batting innings, and the surprise performance of Marco Jansen, who scored an unbeaten 84 at No.7, puzzled many experts and fans.
“India did not have any sharpness in their bowling. The Indian bowling unit did not get the balance of attack vs defence right.”
“When Elgar got set, even then India continued their attacking bowling as if they would get him out with one delivery,” said Pathan, via the aforementioned source.
The Indian batting lineup’s scores of 245 and 131 provided additional proof of their subpar bowling performance, allowing the Proteas to accumulate beyond expectations.
Despite the disappointment of losing the opening Test, Team India aims to prevent a series defeat and secure vital World Test Championship (WTC) points in the upcoming match at Cape Town.
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