“It felt like the ball misbehaved a little bit more for them” – Rahul Dravid on South African pacers outbowling their Indian counterparts

Rahul Dravid has said that South Africa’s bowlers outbowled their Indian counterparts in the second Test in Johannesburg to help their team draw level in the series.

The Indian head coach said that the height difference between the South African pacers and their Indian counterparts meant the former extracted more bounce from the Wanderers surface.

The Proteas knocked India over for 202 and 266. However, the Indian bowlers failed to defend 240 in the fourth innings as the home side romped home by seven wickets to level the three-match series. In the post-match press conference, Dravid analysed the reasons for his team’s defeat, saying:

“It felt like the ball misbehaved a little bit more for them. That could be because of height because on an up and down wicket, having that extra height tends to make a difference. They have that height advantage; we bowlers tend to pitch the ball up a little more, kiss the surface more.”

South Africa’s charge in the fourth innings was once again led by their captain Dean Elgar. Displaying grit and tenacity, the left-hander blunted the Indian attack, scoring an unbeaten 96 to take his team home in a tricky chase.

“We can look to seize a few moments” – Rahul Dravid on Indian batters needing to apply themselves more

Rahul Dravid called on the Indian batters to ‘seize’ the crucial moments, urging them to convert their starts into a big knock.

India’s lacklustre batting display on the first day eventually led to their downfall at the Wanderers. The visitors posted just 202 on the opening day, and even in their second innings, they lost their last eight wickets for 111 runs.

Citing the example of KL Rahul from the first Test and Elgar in the second, Dravid asserted the importance of players converting their starts on such surfaces. He said:

‘’The wickets have been challenging. I’ll give that to the batsmen. But yes, we pride ourselves on wanting to do better. So, maybe as a batting unit, we can look to seize a few key moments, and when we get to a partnership, make it longer. We could have got 50-60 more runs in the first innings which could have made a significant difference in the game.”

Admitting that the team needs to get better, Dravid rued the fact that none of the Indian batters went on to register a big knock. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored gritty half-centuries in the second innings. However, they got out in quick succession as they failed to convert their century-run stand to a match-winning one.

“We need to keep improving and get better,” said Dravid. “Maybe some of the guys who got starts could have converted those into 100s. That was the difference from the first game where we had Rahul who got a hundred, and we went on to win the game. Here, they had someone (Elgar) who ended up on 96, and they ended up on the winning side.’’

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The two teams will now meet in Newlands, Cape Town, on January 11, for the series decider. Despite the Johannesburg setback, India will fancy their chances of a first-ever series win in South Africa.