The 22-yard strip at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati was compared to a “road” by India’s top spinner Kuldeep Yadav on Sunday because of the benign surface, which allowed South Africa’s lower-order batters to raise the team’s first-innings tally to 489 on Day 2 of the second Test.
Kuldeep gave a sarcastic response when asked about his thoughts on playing in Kolkata, where batsmen had trouble, and in Barsapara, where it became a nightmare for the spinners.
“Kolkata ka wicket toh alag thaa. Yeh to pura road tha (Kolkata’s pitch was different but this was a whole road). So it’s challenging and that’s why it’s called a Test wicket,” stated Kuldeep, who had stats of 4/115 in 29.1 overs, making him the best bowler in India on Day 2.
Given that this is the first Test match to be played at his home stadium and that one of the senior players hasn’t exactly been kind about the track, it would be fascinating to see how BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia reacts to this statement. Kuldeep did, however, insist that in order to overcome unfavorable circumstances, one must have fighting skills.
“It is not always about domination but it is also very important how you come back on a good batting surface. It was a difficult wicket for the bowlers because I didn’t feel that there was a lot of help in this wicket.”
According to Kuldeep, it’s critical to move on swiftly and avoid worrying over the track’s character.
“Even for fast bowlers it didn’t seem like a lot of help, but yeah, this is Test cricket and you should enjoy it. You should enjoy, learn more and the more you mature, you shouldn’t think too much about the wicket. You should go there and play. Next Test, there could be a better wicket, so no complaints.”
He quickly noted that the slow bowlers received little assistance in the final five sessions following the first day’s opening session, when some underlying dampness was still at work.
“Personally I felt yesterday first session, there was a bit of moisture in the wicket, so I got a little bit of turn there in the first session. After that it was very good to bat on,” he said.
“There wasn’t any turn yesterday as well as today. Today was much better to bat on because I hardly got any turn. Even me and Jadeja we have been talking about that,” he said, and one could gauge the frustration in his voice.
Although Kuldeep was pleased with how India held South Africa to just 69 in the first session, he was always aware that if the wickets had been intact, they would have gone after the bowling.
“Marco Jansen took chances and batted well. And this happens generally when the partnerships are long and you are in a good stable position compared to the other team. Then you want to capitalise and the wicket was good for batting.”
Even though he bowled 29.1 overs overall, Pant only gave him 12 overs on the second day, but he didn’t seem to mind.
He was mischievous when questioned why he didn’t bowl more that day, saying, “I mean for that I have to be the captain.”
More seriously, though, he thought he had been handed enough overs.
“I am very happy with whatever number I bowled. We got 4-5 bowlers more and everyone bowled really well, so you have to keep changing and you can’t just keep bowling from one end, so I haven’t had any issue with that.
“I bowled 30 overs and 30 overs is good for any wrist spinner,” he quipped.
