"No reason why India can't put South Africa under immense pressure" - Shaun Pollock after spoiled Day 2 of 1st India vs South Africa Test
Despite rain spoiling the entire second day of India's ongoing Test against South Africa in Centurion, Shaun Pollock believes the visitors can still force a result. The legendary Proteas quick said if India can post a big first-innings total on Tuesday, they'll leave no reason not to put the hosts "under immense pressure."
The forecast for the next couple of days is clear and India currently stand on a hefty score of 272/3, with three aggressive batters yet to come. Pollock called it a "trump position", saying India going past 400 would allow them to dictate the game with the ball.
Speaking on the show "Cricbuzz Chatter", Pollock said:
"This ground is not great; when the rain comes here, it comes properly. But I think we can still get a result. There's no doubt that India are in a trump position, they're sitting very pretty as it stands. It might just force their tactics a touch as to how quickly they have to get the runs on the board. But I think they'll definitely be thinking if they can post a big score, over 400, there's no reason why they can't put South Africa under immense pressure and then try and move the game forward at the back end."
Pollock also believes that the rain break is beneficial to South Africa as the lost time might help them at a later stage in the game when they are fighting for a draw. He explained that the Proteas pacers have got rest and the pitch, too, will now have more assistance for them on Tuesday. Pollock continued:
"I think this rain break definitely benefits South Africa more than India because of the way the first day was gone, I think they were on the backfoot. At some stage, they might have had to fight for a draw so any time taken out of the game will assist them. It gives their bowlers a chance to recover after a heavy first day and with the covers that have been on, underneath that surface is going to get a bit moist. And in the first hour tomorrow, there will be a lot of assistance with the bowl that's only 10 overs old. It definitely favors South Africa, this rain break, but there's no doubt that India is still in a much stronger position."
Unfortunately, due to the large volume of rain today at Centurion, play has been called off for the day.
#SAvIND https://t.co/NQ5Jbc8MlJ
98 overs each are scheduled to be bowled over the next two days. However, there's also a prediction of rain for Day 5 which might impede the chances of a result.
A South Africa win is almost out of contention barring a stunning batting collapse or a weird innings declaration. For India to win, they'll need to take 20 wickets in a very short span of time, which isn't impossible with their bowling attack but might still need a brilliant team performance.
"You can get yourself in a negative mindset" - Shaun Pollock wants South Africa not to think about a draw
Lungi Ngidi was a man on a mission on Day 1 of the 1st Betway Test😤
ICYMI: Head to the CSA app for a full recap of the Day 1 ➡️: csa.app.link/IRSROAuXjmb
#SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt https://t.co/Z7y1lgSccS
Shaun Pollock further advised Dean Elgar and co. to avoid getting into a negative mindset by thinking about a draw already. He feels coming out with an attacking, wicket-taking mindset should be the way to go. Pollock added:
"If you start thinking about a draw from the start of Day 3, you can get yourself in a negative mindset. So South Africa have to almost come out and think, 'With the conditions that might be in the morning, can we pick up three quick wickets? Can we actually put India under a little bit of pressure?'"
Play will resume at 1:30 PM IST on Tuesday. You can catch all the live coverage here.