India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has said that the toss played an important role in how the second Test between India and South Africa turned out. The match was played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. India were set a huge target of 549 runs to win in the final Test of the red-ball leg of the all-format series. The target was always going to be very difficult.
Jadeja explained that the pitch was very good for batting in the first two days of the match. There were no rough patches on the surface at that time. He said the wicket looked fresh and flat early in the game. However, the nature of the pitch started to change as the match went on. Later, it began to help the spinners a lot.
He felt that the timing of when each team bowled made a big difference. India bowled first when the pitch was still new. South Africa bowled later when wear and tear had already come into play. This gave their spinners more turn and bounce.
“See, honestly, as a bowler, when we were bowling for the first two days, there were no marks on the wicket. The wicket was shining like a mirror. When they came to bowl, because of the wicket taken by the fast bowler, the spinners came into play more. Their balls were turning and bouncing. The situation matters a lot in cricket. If it were the other way around, if we were 300 runs ahead and they came to bat, then it’s possible that we would have won by a large margin,” stated Jadeja, as quoted by The Hindu.
“Toss Gave Proteas Clear Advantage”- Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja clearly accepted that winning the toss helped South Africa in a big way. He said it is a normal part of the game, but its impact can be huge. According to him, the same bowlers can look ordinary or dangerous depending on the match situation and pitch conditions.
“Winning or losing the toss is part of the game. But, the effect is there on the game. When you are bowling for the first time, when nothing is happening on the wicket, then you will feel that the spinners are normal and ordinary. But, when you are 300 runs ahead and you are bowling, then you will see every bowler will seem big. It’s like that. Hopefully, we won’t think too much about what happened and what didn’t,” he added.
India were already in trouble by the end of Day 4. They lost their opening batters before stumps. On the final day, their problems increased. They lost three more wickets in the first session. All three were taken by Simon Harmer. He was also the Player of the Match in the first Test of the series.
So far, spin has made the biggest impact in the match. South African spinners have taken eight of the 15 Indian wickets to fall. The remaining seven wickets have been taken by fast bowler Marco Jansen. With this strong bowling display, the advantage remains firmly with the Proteas as they won by 408 runs.
