Wickets fall across the Board

KL Rahul scored 72 runs in his stay of 292 minutes at the crease against South Africa in Mumbai. (Source: Express photo by Kevin D’Souza)

IN his last international outing before Friday, it had looked like KL Rahul could have done without a bat when he walked to the middle. For, he didn’t use it all. In a rather rare and embarrassing — if you are Rahul, that is — occurrence at Colombo’s SSC stadium, the right-hander had shouldered arms and been bowled in both innings of the third Test for scores of 2 and 2 respectively.

For the first half-hour of his outing at Cricket Club of India, Rahul and his bat still didn’t seem to have reignited their chemistry to a great extent. He kept flashing at deliveries that were curving away from him, and was tentatively poking at ones moving in towards him — on couple of occasions, the ball even bounded off attempted leaves.

In his defence, Dale Steyn & Co weren’t really making it any easy. They were being quite the harassers, like you would expect them to be for every Indian batsman that comes in their path over the next month-and-a-half. Rahul did survive, even if not very convincingly against the fast bowlers anyway, to top-score with 72 as Board President’s XI were bowled out for 296.

But Day One of the two-day practice match at Brabourne Stadium was all about South Africa showing off why their pace-attack generates such awe around the world, and why India need to be very wary of it, if they didn’t know that already. Their biggest strength of course lies in their versatility. And Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, each showcased his unique strength, in a display that wasn’t quite menacing—considering they never seemed to be running in at full tilt—but was still an ominous reminder of their potency.

Steyn and Morkel though aren’t strangers to India. This will be their third Test series in India as South Africa’s henchmen with the ball, not to forget the many seasons of the IPL that they have been a part of. For them, this was perhaps more to re-connect with the SG ball whose trait to go flat soon has posed a few problems to the foreign bowlers who are more at home with the Kookaburra. But Philander’s only outings on Indian soil have come through his appearances for Cape Cobras in the CL T20 over the years.

The cerebral tease

If Steyn’s the enforcer and Morkel the bully, then Philander is the cerebral tease. He might not hit your bat too hard like the other two, but he always seems to know where the edge is. And finds it with unerring regularity. Like he did with both Cheteshwar Pujara, who nicked one to gully after a tentative stay at the crease that produced a 15-ball 5, and Karun Nair after the Karnataka batsman looked well-set on 44.

But the burly South African new-ball bowler is yet to replicate his dramatic successes outside the subcontinent in these conditions, which don’t quite assist his swing and movement quite the same. Philander’s record in Asia presently stands at 10 wickets at 35.05 in 6 Tests as compared to 113 wickets at 20.94 in other parts of the world.

On first impression alone, Philander seemed to be getting pally with the Indian pitches and the SG ball, as he swung the ball, both new and old, both in and out. His greatest strength is the nagging line, never too far away from off-stump, and teasing length, just full enough to invite the drive and ram into your pads.

His length is also the reason why Philander isn’t really a first-choice pick for the shorter formats. But it’s what makes him a menace, when the jerseys are white and the ball is red. No wonder, the South Africans aren’t going to be swayed by the impressive impact of Kagiso Rabada in the ODIs to leave Philander out.

At CCI, he kept beating the bats of Rahul and Pujara — both of whom could feature in the Test series at some point — never allowing them to confidently leave deliveries. But he also kept darting the ball in and hitting the pads, like he did with Naman Ojha later in the day even if it didn’t produce a wicket.

While Philander finished with 2/37, the bowling hero for South Africa was not surprisingly Steyn with figures of 3/46 in his 13 overs. To be honest, he never seemed to be running in with full steam for major parts of the day, and not more than a couple of those you-better-watch-out bouncers. He kept bowling within himself but was still good enough to edge out Unmukt Chand with an out-swinger early in the piece. That is before Shreyas Iyer, Mumbai’s bright batting talent who has conquered many a domestic bowling attack this season, fell to him — or you could say Steyn’s reputation — after gingerly encountering three deliveries against him.

The only time Steyn really ran in was after the tea-break, once the ball was scuffed-up enough and he realized there was reverse swing on offer. He accounted for Ojha, who made a bright 52, getting him caught at slip by Hashim Amla.

Unlike his fellow pacers, Morkel, who is still feeling his way back into the side after a sore foot, bowled only five overs, all of which were maidens. His first delivery that Rahul had to fend off in front of his throat was indicative enough of the threat that Morkel poses. He’s never quite been a prolific collector of five-wicket hauls like Steyn or Philander. But his role in Tests is predominantly that of roughing up the opposition with his height, bounce and the heavy ball while subsequently choking them for runs, which he did in his brief spell at the CCI.

While the pace-attack pretty much selects itself, South Africa are still in pursuit of inking in their specialist spinner come the first Test in Mohali. All three hopefuls were on show on Friday, and Simon Harmer, the blonde off-spinner, did stand out as the most eye-catching both in terms of his control and his figures — 3/41, including the wicket of Rahul. Not surprisingly, most of the BP XI batsmen who did survive long enough to face spin, made the most of it.

Piedt under fire

But it was only Dane Piedt, the other more conventional off-spinner, who came in for some heavy firing, especially at the hands of Hardik Pandya. Unlike Piedt, Harmer, the taller of the two, doesn’t really give the ball much air but did look like a spinner who could play a Paul Harris like role with his control through precision, getting Pandya out with more variation than guile. Imran Tahir wasn’t given much of a bowl, considering he just played an integral role in South Africa’s triumphs in the limited-overs formats, but did end up with the wicket of Sheldon Jackson.

And now that the South African bowlers have got validation of their skills, Saturday will be all about their batsmen getting in sync against the spinning ball.

Brief scores: Board President’s XI 296 (K L Rahul 72, K Nair 44, N Ojha 52, H Pandya 47; D Steyn 3 for 46, V Philander 2 for 37, S Harmer 3 for 41). South Africa 46/2 (D Elgar not out 18; S Thakur 2 for 28)