India failed to chase 123 runs on day three, getting bowled out for 93 and losing by 30 runs.
The test that lasted three days saw South Africa stunning India by 30 runs, outplaying them on a track that aided spin and had uneven bounce from day one. Chasing 123 runs to win the game, India was shot out for 93 as Simon Harmer starred with four wickets each in both innings.
Srikkanth was offended by India coach Gautam Gambhir's insistence that the team wanted to play on the wicket despite the loss. Srikkanth was unable to understand the rationale behind supporting such a pitch.
“The wicket was a bad wicket. Gambhir said after the match that there were no demons in the wicket, but come on, it was a horrible wicket. It was not a Test match wicket. If the game ends in 2.5 days, there's clearly something wrong with the wicket,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Srikkanth further took a dig at Gambhir and stated that even he would’ve gotten a wicket had he bowled stump to stump on this wicket.
“On these turning tracks, India has been on the back foot. Look at the scores: 159, 189, 153, 93. Obviously, there's something wrong with the wicket. On the first day, Bumrah bowled an absolute snorter to Markram that nearly went above his head. It's up and down for the quicks; it's turning square for the spinners. On this surface, even I would have taken wickets if I had bowled. Bowling stump-to-stump would have done the trick,” he added.
Srikkanth further highlighted that South Africa outplayed India despite playing only two spinners to their four. The Proteas had Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj as their premier spinners, while India played Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar.
“They played 4 spinners, and one spinner (Sundar) didn't even bowl. In the second innings, he didn't bowl a single ball. I don't understand the logic behind selecting 4 spinners. My problem is not with selecting Washington and playing him at No. 3, but not giving him any bowling whatsoever,” Srikkanth pointed out.