After the match, India captain Rohit Sharma made some remarks on the pitch. He said that while he doesn’t mind playing on such surfaces, he pointed out the hypocrisy of the cricket community in general, which criticizes Indian pitches when the match doesn’t last five days.
On Thursday, January 4, India accomplished a historic victory against South Africa in Cape Town, defeating them by seven wickets to tie the two-match series at one. In addition to the record victory, the pitch at Newlands Stadium grabbed headlines when the game was over in just 107 overs, making it the quickest Test match in history.
“I mean, we witnessed the events of this game, the way the pitch performed, and other things. To be honest, I don’t mind playing on these kinds of pitches. According to ESPNCricinfo, Rohit Sharma said, “As long as everyone keeps their mouth shut in India and doesn’t talk too much about Indian pitches, honestly.”
The Indian skipper added more weight to his claim by stating that every player knows that Test cricket is a difficult format. As a result, they challenge themselves in the most demanding environments on the planet. On the other hand, opinions on a spinning and seaming pitch vary.
“Because you come here to test yourself, that’s why you play Test cricket. It is indeed harmful. It’s difficult. When faced with such a task, you rise to the occasion. That’s what occurs in India, except that if the pitch turns on the first day, people there start yelling, “Puff of dust! Puff of dust!” This pitch has a lot of cracks in it. He said, “People are not looking at that.
The 36-year-old went on to say that impartial match referees are also necessary for grading pitches, and he expressed shock that the Ahmedabad field used in the World Cup 2023 final was given an “average” grade by the ICC.
It still amazes me that the pitch in the World Cup final was classified as average. Rohit Sharma
“You know, it’s important for some of these match referees to monitor their pitch ratings. It’s really significant. The World Cup final pitch was rated below average (it was ranked ordinary), and I still find it hard to accept. In the final, a batsman scored a hundred. How could that pitch be bad? Therefore, these are the elements that match officials and the ICC need to investigate and start grading pitches based on what they observe rather than the nations. That’s really crucial, in my opinion,” he continued.
The past is in the past & #TeamIndia made significant amends coming into the 2nd Test! 💥#RohitSharma lauds the team for keeping it simple & the intensity up to record a historic win at Cape Town – the first Asian team to achieve this feat! 💙
The skipper is one happy man! 😀 pic.twitter.com/7M61bn0vKZ
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 4, 2024
Throughout the two days of the second Test, none of the sides bowled a single over of spin; instead, all 33 wickets that fell throughout the match were taken by seamers. On the second day, South Africa took a 78-run lead in their second inning thanks to Aiden Markram’s century (106 off 103), which gave India a 79-run deficit to overcome.
With seven wickets remaining, the Rohit Sharma-led team completed the chase in only 12 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scoring with 28 (23). As a consequence, Rohit Sharma became the second Indian captain to draw a Test series in South Africa after MS Dhoni (2010–11), and India became the first Asian side to win a Test in Cape Town.
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