India Vs South Africa: The pitch isnt a Pitch to Play on Anymore

source: Times of India Blog

Dean Elgar signaled for the physio, injured and battered completely. This wasn’t the first time that he had been hit by a fast bowler today, but he had somehow made it out with his grit. But when Kumar swung in a sharp bouncer that almost broke Elgar’s finger, he was genuinely concerned. Now, if a completely new person came and saw, he would be aghast at the sudden increase in quality of pacers. But there has been a hidden Bramhastra for all of the pacers: the pitch itself. The Wanderers pitch has suddenly become extremely unpredictable, with huge bounce and corky swing that could undo even Don Bradman. The Indians, at the end of the day, told everyone that they were prepared after the rage turner pitches in India to face this. The South Africans were frankly in a state of confusion, a bit bewildered by the pitch. However, the pitch is just not a pitch anymore. It’s a hell-bed filled with varying bounce that can hit you anywhere, and it’s just flat out dangerous. This shouldn’t happen at all.

There’s been enough signs on this pitch that it was a dangerous pitch. It started the first day, when edges came out of nowhere and snorters ripped through the Indian batsmen. There was a bit of resistance, but generally, the quartet of Rabada, Ngidi, Philander, and Morkel terrorized the Indian batsmen. There was nothing suspicious, but the commentators and a keen observer could see the snaking and unpredictability of the pitch. Then the second day, the pitch came out into the open. When prolific batsmen such as du Plessis and De-Villiers lost their wickets to swingers that swung the whole length of the pitch, everyone could judge the effect the cracks had. When a simple seam ball suddenly zipped through and broke the stumps in a flash, everyone could gauge the randomness of the pitch, especially the pace. When a loopy ball bounced up to the helmets, but a speedy ball bounced below the sneakers, one knew the various bounce of the pitch. The pitch played a huge part. Edges flew out of nowhere, and it was here were keepers such as De Kock and Patel were brought under scrutiny. I pity them. It was definitely not easy in any circumstances. The third day, well, no words. Everything possible was there. Like the only thing missing was ponies flying out of the sky with unicorns. Man, I still can’t believe that India is placed that well after that many edges. A considerable amount of this went to South Africa’s inability to catch anything, but still India showed some good skill. Then came SA. It was clear that they were battered and bruised. But Elgar man what grit! He somehow defended the bullets the Indian team was spewing. At the end of the day, he was profusely hurt, the only thing missing was blood. But he’ll push on. The thing that will get worse is the pitch.

Now, the play will resume on the fourth day. But can we allow to risk more and more injuries to the physio on a raging pitch like this for a simple victory?