Why South Africa Great Shaun Pollock Is “Disappointed” With India’s Batting In Johannesburg Test

India suffered a batting collapse with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara failing to make notable contributions once again in the ongoing second Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. No one except stand-in skipper KL Rahul and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin managed to put on a fight against the South African bowlers on Day 1. Barring Rahul’s 50 and Ravichandran Ashwin’s 46, Indian players completely failed to read the line and length of the Proteas pacers, throwing away their wickets cheaply. Speaking on India’s batting display, former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock said he was “a bit disappointed” with how the players failed to deal with the deliveries that were pitched wide of off-stump.

“I’m a little bit disappointed with the way India batted. The key element is how you combat to whatever is thrown at you. If you look at the 10 dismissals, all were catches. I don’t think the Indian batters left as well as they could’ve. They got off to a good but not the best batting display; I think South Africa have fought hard,” Pollock told Dinesh Karthik during an interaction on Cricbuzz Chatter.

South African pacers ran riot on Day 1 as India were bowled out for a total of 202.

Marco Jansen was the star of the day with his four for 34 while Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Oliver, who was brought into the playing XI for the second Test, took three wickets each.

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After rolling over India for cheap, South Africa themselves got a shaky start as Aiden Markram was dismissed LBW by Mohammed Shami for 7.

The hosts will resume play on Day 2 at 35/1, trailing India by 167 runs.