Former South African cricketer Daryll Cullinan said that India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul missed the trick in terms of using his bowlers in the second Test after the tourists suffered a 7-wicket defeat at the Wanderers, Johannesburg, on Thursday (January 6).
Team India had set a tricky target of 240 runs for victory and they were even ahead in the match against South Africa, but the poor lengths bowled by the Indian bowlers made things very easy for the hosts, as they successfully chased down the target to level the three-match Test series at 1-1 in Johannesburg.
Following the defeat, Cullinan said that India wasn't "patient" enough while South African bowlers "let the wicket do the job" and played a patient game, which paid off at the Wanderers.
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Cullinan told ESPNCricinfo: “Let's go back to when South Africa bowled yesterday [second innings] and India got ahead. Remember, the runs were flowing easy, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi opened and then Rabada came... They allowed the wicket to do the job, they put pressure from both the ends and we saw the results.”
He further explained, “Yes, they changed their lengths and used the short ball more against the Indian batters. But it's remarkable when you think of Bumrah, who took one wicket. In a Test match on a wicket that was not playing well. Invariably, isn't it true when (the) ball (is) staying down more, then you look to go straighter? I think we mentioned that India wasn't patient enough, almost as if they were expecting things to happen. Maybe that was the instruction. But let's also go to the bowling side, the information off the field as Rahul missed the trick.”
Explaining how Indian bowlers allowed South Africa batters to score runs "far too easy", Cullinan said: “They seem to believe and think that things were going to happen, instead of going back to playing the patience game. But ultimately, what brings wickets, good or bad wickets? You try to build pressure from both ends and I think there, they weren't smart enough.”
He signed off by saying, “South Africa got the runs far too easy, they had to have made South Africa work so much harder for these runs. And I think it comes down to India's mindset. I think they were too loose in too many basic factors of Test cricket, one is being consistent in your lines and lengths.”
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
