South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince said that the inconsistent bounce did not allow his batters to feel comfortable even after they got starts.
On day one of the first Test here at the Eden Gardens, four batters from South Africa’s top-five crossed 20 runs but Aiden Markram’s 31 ended up being the highest.
“I think the signs were there pretty early that the bounce was not consistent,” Prince said after Friday’s play. “You expect batters to get to 20, 30, and grow in confidence, [but] I don’t particularly believe that any of the batters grew in confidence because of the inconsistency of the bounce.
“You don’t trust the surface as much as you should after spending an hour at the crease. And of course, when you face a quality bowling attack, they can more often than not get the ball in the danger area, and it does too much for you.”
It appeared that India and South Africa read the pitch very differently. While India went with four spinners and two pacers, South Africa dropped left-arm tweaker Senuran Muthusamy to have a three-two pace-spin combination. Who comes up trumps, only time will tell.
“We didn’t want to make any assumptions about the pitch before the Indians had a chance to bat on it,” Prince stated. “K.L. [Rahul], I think, is 13 of nearly 60 deliveries. I know it was an awkward period to bat, but it would suggest that it’s not a free-scoring pitch.
“Having said that, they [India] still have nine wickets in hand. There’s no rush for them in terms of time. From our point of view, we want them to have at least 150 to chase in the second innings. But that’s a long way away.”