South Africa vs India 2018: Morne Morkel not impressed with Centurion pitch
What's the story?
Morne Morkel has expressed his displeasure about the Centurion pitch that is being used for the ongoing second Test between South Africa and India.
Although the pacer picked four wickets in the first innings, he is not happy about the fact that the strip at SuperSport Park is similar to the kind of pitches found in India.
Ravichandran Ashwin bowled 31 overs on the first day of the Test and Virat Kohli asked the off-spinner to open bowling on Day 3 because of the nature of the track.
"It's unheard of that a spinner bowls that many overs in the first day," Morkel said.
"It has a very sub-continent feel to it: tough scoring, tough to get people out. It’s definitely not the sort of conditions we want here in South Africa this week," he added.
"I’ve played cricket here all my life and I’ve never seen a wicket like this at SuperSport Park," Morkel said.
In case you didn't know...
During the build-up to the second Test, Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis had made it very clear that he wanted a pitch that could offer pace and bounce for his fast bowlers.
After thredays of play, the hosts are not at all impressed with the pitch that groundsman Bryan Bloy has given them.
The heart of the matter
On the other hand, Virat Kohli, who inspected the pitch before the start of play‚ was quite happy with the lively Centurion track.
The Indian skipper said that it looked like a really lively pitch and was exactly what his team wanted it to be.
The 29-year-old added that he wanted a track where both teams will be in the contest and he is quite happy to see the wicket.
Kohli also said that after the loss in Cape Town, his batsmen were looking to take on the challenge again and the bowlers were looking to replicate their performance.
What’s next?
The play was stopped early due to bad light on Day 3 and the hosts will start Day 4 on 90/2, 118 runs ahead of India.
This is a must-win game for the tourists as the Proteas are leading the 3-match Test series 1-0 after winning by 72 runs in Cape Town last week.
Author’s take
South Africa's frustration is quite understandable as they would have been hoping to make the most of the home advantage and wrap up the series as quickly as possible.
Things did not go as per the plan for the hosts but it will be very interesting to see in which direction the match goes from here on.