In the Centurion Test, India lost by an innings and 32 runs.
Former Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that the South African fast bowlers got more help from the Centurion pitch than the Indian bowlers. Explaining the reason behind this, he said that African bowlers are taller than Indian bowlers due to which they got more help and bounce from the pitch.
The African team defeated the visiting team by an innings and 32 runs on the third day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday, 28 December. They bowled out Rohit Sharma and company for 245 and 131 runs in their two innings. On the other hand, Indian bowlers were seen struggling against the African batsmen and due to this South Africa scored a huge score of 408 runs.
Aakash Chopra gave a big statement after losing the test match against South Africa
Reviewing the match in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra claimed that the relatively short Indian bowlers could not take advantage of the conditions. He said, “There was a lot of help (for the bowlers) on this Centurion pitch. Some balls went up, the way Dean Elgar got out on the ball of Shardul Thakur or the way Yashasvi Jaiswal got out on the ball of Nandre Berger.”
The former Indian opener further said, “Since their fast bowlers are tall, they take full advantage of the conditions, which our bowlers are not able to do. Our bowlers are a little weak. He is not as tall and does not get as much help from the pitch. Which benefits the opposing team.”
Let us tell you that, Jasprit Bumrah (4/69) and Mohammed Siraj (2/91), these were the two bowlers who put pressure on the African batsmen to some extent. Whereas Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna together took only two wickets and gave a total of 194 runs in 39 overs.
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