India vs South Africa: Wasn't it the same pitch where Virat Kohli's boys played? Shame Proteas chickened out

Kerry Packer’s cricket circus had a tagline: Big boys play at night. That line was used to introduce and promote the novel idea of playing cricket at night and under floodlights. But that tagline about big boys could apply for Test cricket as well! [caption id=“attachment_4321795” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  South Africa batsman Dean Elgar tries to negotiate a bouncer from Mohammed Shami on Day 3 of the Wanderers Test. AP[/caption] For Test cricket is just that: A test of skill, bravery, grit and temperament. It seeks to separate men from the boys. South Africans have a reputation for possessing a fragile temperament. They choke at the first opportunity. It is possible that they suffered a ‘brain freeze’ when they saw the ball do a bit more than they could stomach. Had the target been 80 to 100 runs they would not have made a tenth of the fuss they made on Friday. Instead, at the Wanderers Stadium, which they glorify as ‘The Bull Ring’, their batsmen decided that they did not want to take anything by the horns, let alone a raging India. They opted instead to bank on theatrics and make a song and dance every time the ball did a bit more than expected and thus try and convince the umpires and match referee that their life and limb were in danger. They promptly fell on the ground and on their backs whenever the new, hard ball lifted a wee bit more, or winced and called for the physio and his bag of ice every time they took a slight blow on their glove or arm pad. In another field, Oscars were known to be handed out for far less convincing performances. Unfortunately for South Africa, the only message that was being sent out was that they lacked the heart for a fight. (The Aussies will no doubt remind them of this when the two teams clash in March). Television replays and slow motion cameras added fuel to fire by repeatedly showing the blow to Dean Elgar seem more painful than it might have been. Yes, the ball bounced a bit more than expected. But don’t ignore the fact that it was a short-pitched delivery and the batsman showed very poor skill in handling it. In any case he was not carried off the field in a stretcher. Elgar was frozen stiff on the batting crease when he should have been playing off the backfoot. Years of upbringing on pitches where he could trust the bounce let him down the moment the pitch did a bit more than expected. Even otherwise, Jasprit Bumrah, the bowler who gave him that crack on the head, is a very difficult bowler to pick on the best of surfaces. But this was the Wanderers pitch. The one the South Africans boast of, claiming that the cracks on it are the doom of visiting batsmen. This is much on the lines of the Australians’ talk about their Perth track. But on the day it was the South African batsmen who turned tail and made a fuss about the pace and bounce. On the other hand the Indian batsmen came across as being gritty, disciplined, committed and brave. So much so former England skipper Nasser Hussain tweeted:

Two things I will say about this test .. if anyone ever calls this Indian batting line up flat track bullies again they need to be reminded of the skill and bravery they have shown in this innings ..

— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) January 26, 2018

Yes, those are the very catch words he used: skill and bravery. This holds particularly true when you look at the composition of the home team’s all-pace attack. All of them are taller, faster and more lethal than the Indian bowlers. But they lacked the skill and nous to bowl on a helpful pitch against batsmen who were willing to take the odd body blow to protect their citadel. Of course modern protective equipment is superb compared to the days of Sunil Gavaskar or Viv Richards who only had sheer talent and enormous self-belief in their ability to take on any bowler. Modern helmets protect the whole head, including the face and back of the skull. Then, there are chest pads, thigh pads for both outer and inner thigh, forearm protectors and inner supporters that enable a batsman to wear two boxes to protect his family jewels. The gloves and leg guards too are far superior than any that existed in the earlier eras. May be this is one of the reasons that the skill to defend or evade a body blow has gone out of batting techniques of some batsmen. They trust the protective equipment so much they haven’t really worked on other skills. The South Africans need to look only as far as Virat Kohli, who made 54 and 41 against their attack on the same pitch to realise their shortcomings. There were more than a few deliveries that reared alarmingly or seamed appreciably. But Kohli was man enough to handle them and fight it out. The grim truth is that this is Test cricket where no quarter is given or asked for. It would be a shame if the umpires, referee and other responsible people intervene at this late stage when more than three-quarters of the game has already been completed. Pity would be if only one side wants to play cricket while the other will go to any length to avoid a defeat.