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It is a prevalent belief that the BCCI should field a
team that wins everything because it has been making significantly more money
for a longer period of time than the next richest board. Following the defeat
in Centurion, the argument has been made again.
When it comes right down to it, though, Test cricket
is such a singular phenomena in sport that you can only go so far with your
wealth.
The demands of playing Test cricket just cannot be
duplicated in any other format or at any other level.
Consider the Centurion Exam. perhaps even the final
South African series. Simply put, India’s bowlers haven’t been able to produce
as much inconsistent bounce or seam movement as South Africa’s bowlers. It
depends on the bowlers’ height and their capacity to consistently bowl at 140
kph.
Hit-the-deck bowlers are rewarded more by those
pitches than those that kiss the surface. As the game progresses, you must
allow the ball to sink into the firm, green surfaces with high levels of
wetness and indentations; a higher release angle facilitates this. Because of
this, Prasidh Krishna was chosen rather than Mukesh Kumar, who has a far more
impressive resume in first-class cricket.
India even bowled longer and extracted more runs off
the pitch in the first exchanges than did South Africa. India and South Africa
drew 36 and 28, respectively, incorrect answers in the first 20 overs of the
first two innings. In the first two innings, South Africa drew 78 false replies
against India’s 47 from overs 20.1 to 67.4.
After the new ball’s impacts subsided, South Africa
not only bowled more effectively in certain places but also extracted more
run-making from the surface than India did with the new ball. India lost the
new-ball advantage as the innings went on, the heavy roller’s effects subsided,
the indentations grew, and height proved to be the decisive factor.
India can control themselves by not bowling as widely
as they did. After the initial exchanges, they ended up giving up comparatively
less dangerous runs in addition to being easier to abandon. In such conducive
conditions, you just cannot give up 145 and 136 runs in two of the three
sessions that follow.
The element of luck also becomes crucial if you
maintain your composure and persevere long enough. From the outset, it appeared
that the Indians were not in luck.
India must advance to the weaker or inexperienced
hitters before their inherent disadvantage manifests itself. When it occurs,
they must exhibit far better old ball control and pressure the batters who
aren’t getting any runs to make mistakes. All India can hope for is better
damage control with the old ball and more damage with the new one.