Kohli's boys show courage in Bull Ring

Virt Kohli has all the answers for his critics and he stoutly defended his team's philosophy after India have won their third Test in South Africa in a dramatic manner. The victory is all the more sweeter as India all of

Had South Africa won the series 3-0, they would have been in a position to try and get to the top after three years by beating Australia 2-0 in the series next month. In the changed scenario, South Africa will have to win at least one Test against Australia to retain second place in the Test table!

When Cheteshwar Punjara remarked after the first day's play in the Johannesburg Test that India's first innings score of 187 is equal to 300 on any other pitch, he was derisively ticked off, some thought he was talking through his hat to justify India's poor batting after winning the toss.

Pujara was proved right as South Africa could barely muster a seven-run lead on the same pitch and by second afternoon India were batting again.

The pitch was dubious if not dangerous right from the start of the Test and its character remained more or less same, in a deteriorating state, as South Africa went in to bat on the third afternoon.

A short-pitched delivery from Jasprit Bumrah shook opener Dean Elgar as the ball menacingly rose to find the grill of the batsman's helmet. Medical team rushed on to the field to take stock of a dazed his condition. That was enough for the two umpires, Messrs Aleem Dar and Ian Gould to go into a huddle to assess whether the pitch was the villain or it's just one of those short-pitched deliveries that the fast bowlers sent down to rattle the batsmen routinely.

On the same treacherous pitch Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, importantly Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami, took lethal body blows and still showed courage to defy the all-pace attack. When they batted the pitch suddenly looked somewhat benign and so appeared during the Elgar-Hashim Amla century partnership on the fourth day. Elgar did not find anything amiss with the short stuff while remaining unbeaten with 86.

Shami returned with a fifer and his wickets were all skilfully obtained, attacking stumps, not because of any excessive help from the pitch. For that matter Bumrah was unplayable in claiming five wickets in the first innings, again generating accurate pace and forcing the batsmen to play.

Yet, all the stalwarts writing or commentating on the pitch were unanimous that it was not fit for a Test match and Michael Holding, the man who was part of the West Indies pace battery that prompted Bishan Bedi to declared India innings at Sabina Park, Jamaica, in 1976, termed it "sh.." and cricket should not be played on it. Even the South African greats thought the pitch was a bad advertisement for Test cricket.

Yet, Kohli was keen on going through with the Test, win or lose, but the South Africans would have been happier if they were spared the agony of standing up to an Indian pace attack that looked far better than theirs. South Africa's West Indian coach Ottis Gibson reacted predictably, that his team would be happy to play, as long as the umpires decided the surface wasn't dangerous.

Whether the pitch was dangerous or not, Kohli and his boys were courageous. Full marks to them for battling it out. 

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Veturi Srivatsa/IANS