Former South Africa captain Dr. Ali Bakker watched the first two Test matches at Centurion and Wanderers, Johannesburg. and the third from his home in Johannesburg in Newlands, Cape Town. He said, ‘I have never seen a three-Test series in South Africa when the ball has strayed so much. All three pitches were batsmen’s nightmare and fast bowler’s paradise. Indian fast bowlers missed the edge of the bat by a quarter or half an inch several times on the fourth morning in Cape Town. They were unlucky. And I have never seen a South African team more courageous and determined than this. He has made the country proud,” Bakker summed up the three-Test series that concluded at Newlands, Cape Town on Friday, January 14.
Excerpts from an interview:
It was an exciting series all the way. How do you sum it up?
India came to South Africa after beating Australia twice and England once in England and with four good fast bowlers. And the fast bowlers generally excel on South African pitches. I think very few South Africa would have put their money on the home team that won the series, before the series started. To be honest and there is no question about it. Under these conditions, this has been the best performance of the South African team so far. The man-for-man this South African team, especially the batsman, cannot compare with the likes of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. He was a superstar. Yet this inexperienced South African batsman showed courage and determination that I have never seen before in any South African team. And so this country will be proud of this South African team. They never gave up and went on to win the series 2–1 after losing the first Test at Centurion.
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The pitches were challenging for both the teams?
All three pitches – Centurion, The Wanderers and Newlands – assisted the fast bowlers. It rained a lot in Centurion and Johannesburg. So I think the pitches there helped the fast bowlers. I don’t know why the pitch in Cape Town became difficult for batting. Some balls remained low and some went over the wicketkeeper. It was difficult to bat on all three pitches.
Keegan Peterson emerges as a surprise package?
The hero of South Africa’s batting performance was Keegan Pietersen (15 and 17 at Centurion, 62 and 22 at Wanderers and 72 and 82 at Cape Town). He played only two Test matches (in West Indies) before the start of this series and now he has played only five matches. His technique is superb, his head is on top of the ball all the time. He never panicked, he showed nature. For me he is the find of the series and man of the series for South Africa. He played incredibly well and scored the most runs (276) from either side. He looked like he had played ten years and scored thousands of Test runs. Pietersen has surprised us all. Before the series began, I didn’t know much about who he was.
Was the South African team able to concentrate despite off-the-field issues?
Off-field South African cricket has been in turmoil on the administrative side. But the team showed exceptional courage and determination on various pitches facing one of the best fast bowling groups in the world and aiding in fast bowling. It should rank as South Africa’s best Test series win.
Where did India miss out on its best chance of winning the series in South Africa?
Team fielded without fast bowler Enrique Nortje?
Nortje is fast, and he bowls at around 150kmph. He is a very good bowler, and it was a big blow that he got out before the series even started. That was a big loss. and Quinton (de Kock); Retired from Test cricket after Centurion. So South Africa had a great Test series without their two key players. I cannot praise this team less. They were Dalits; Nobody gave him a chance to win the series. But they were calm and quiet in the middle and won a Test series against one of the best all-round teams in the world that I have seen.
India found it difficult defending totals around 200 in the fourth innings in Johannesburg and Cape Town?
On Friday (January 14), India’s fast bowlers were unlucky at Newlands. They were excellent. He beat the bat by half an inch, a quarter inch several times. Those half-inch or quarter-inch omissions may have taken the outside edge. To be honest, on the morning of the fourth day, luck was on South Africa’s side. But that is cricket, that is cricket. India’s bowlers were superb.
Was the bounce different in all three places? The Indian team believed that the bounce in Centurion over a span of five days is different from other venues as well?
See, this time all three pitches were very different from the normal South African pitches. He was favored by the fast bowlers in the divergence of the seam, especially in Johannesburg. Also in Cape Town. This was the most unusual. In Australia, one gets tough pitches and even bounties. It was a nightmare for the batsmen this time in South Africa. There was always seam speed and variable bounce. I have never seen in a Test series in South Africa that so many balls go over the wicketkeeper and bounce for miles. This could be due to heavy rains in these parts. But Cape Town in general is a good pitch with plenty of bounce and warm weather. But as it turned out there were good fast bowlers and the pitch turned out to be a real nightmare for the batsmen.
Rishabh Pant scored a century when the others couldn’t face the South African attack at Newlands?
Rishabh’s century was special. Glad to see him bat; A left-handed player is a special talent.
It was a low-scoring series and the captains would have abandoned the futility of fielding a finger spinner on such pitches? Keshav Maharaj (left arm spinner) and Ravichandran Ashwin (right arm off spinner) didn’t get to bowl on the actual pitch of day 4 or 5?
Ashwin bowled hard. I have never seen a Test series in South Africa when spinners have had such little impact. Both the spinners bowled hard.
Off-spinner Hugh Tayfield took 92 wickets in South Africa between 1949 and 1958?
I played Tyfield towards the end of his career. He was the best spinner this country has ever produced. He didn’t turn the ball much, but he was very accurate. A famous Test match was in the 1956–57 series against Australia when he took nine wickets in the second innings at the Wanderers. He went to Australia in the early 1950s. The then South African team was full of newcomers and he took 30 wickets in that five-Test series. He never gave up and always believed that he could dismiss any batsman. He was the greatest Trier I’ve ever seen. He had a big heart.
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