Duminy’s return likely to help the Proteas

It wasn’t a surprise that the Test match finished within three days at Mohali. I have not seen a pitch turn so much at that ground and playing the Indian spinners on third day on that surface was very, very difficult.

India must consider themselves lucky to have won the toss on that pitch for batting fourth on that surface would have not been very easy for them either. On this sort of a surface, as a batsman, one is never set and every over there is an unplayable delivery which the batsman has to live with.

For me, the toughest bowler to face on that surface was Ravindra Jadeja. The reason I say this is because the faster one bowls on that surface the harder it is, as a batsman gets less time to adjust. The deliveries to Hashim Amla and some of the other batsmen were just unplayable.

The Indians had the combination right on this pitch. They are persisting with the five-bowler theory and it has worked well for them so far. Runs from Jadeja also helped the balance and if he can do it consistently, then it would be a big positive for the side. But what he has to show the selectors is whether he has the ability to pick wickets on good surfaces. He had been left out for a while and hopefully the break helped him work his game out mentally.

The batting also has stood up at various times in the game. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara played quality knocks on a difficult surface. The return of Pujara must have been very satisfying to the Indian team because his temperament as a Test batsman will be very handy to this side.

South Africans, on the other side, competed well but the lack of experience of some on these sort of surfaces made life very difficult for the batting unit. It was something which they have never seen before and also they must remember that it is something which they will see for the remaining three Test matches. They will bat better with more exposure on these pitches, but I feel they are one batter short on these surfaces.

They have gone in with an extra fast bowler but will have to find out a way to balance the team. Maybe with the return of J.P. Duminy, it will be better balanced as he will bowl a lot of overs on turning pitches and his experience with the bat will help the middle-order.

The South Africans will be keeping an eye on Dale Steyn’s recovery but it is something which they might not lose sleep over in these conditions. All they will be hoping is that they stay on the right side of the toss as batting first on these surfaces makes the game look completely different. (Gameplan)