It took only 12 balls for India to complete their maiden whitewash over South Africa in a Test series. Shahbaz Nadeem got the final two wickets as India trampled over South Africa by an innings and 202 runs to pocket the series 3-0. A visibly chuffed Ravi Shastri spoke about the changed mindset and how they always wanted to take the pitch out of the equation and build a crop of bowlers that was well-rounded in all conditions.
“Our motto was to take pitches out of the equation. ‘Bhaad me gaya pitch’ (to hell with the pitches). Whether it’s Johannesburg or Melbourne or Mumbai, we want to take the pitch out of the equation. With the batting line-up we have, if they post big totals and then we have bowlers who can take 20 wickets – we can keep taking those world championship points we’re after. Rahane was never going to go anywhere, he had to rediscover his touch which he’s done.”
He also spoke about Rohit Sharma and how he was in a different league and took to his new role seamlessly.
“Rohit – different plane altogether. As an opener, your mindset has to be different. On the first day here, it was touch. Rohit worked his way out of it, but he kept thinking he had to work hard and cash in when the pitch gets better. That’s what happened. Normally in India, you have two players who hog the limelight. Here we’ve had six or seven payers,” he further added.
Speaking ahead of day 4, Umesh Yadav reflected on this performance and said how they have enjoyed to bowl fast and revel in each other’s company.
“If you have pace and bounce, you can be successful at home. Earlier they said as fast bowlers, you’ve to just be ready for reverse swing after the new ball’s shine is done, to allow spinners to come in. But with Shami, Jasprit and I, we plan and we know how we have to go about bowling. All of us have pace. I’m happy to see our fast bowlers are doing what overseas pacers are doing. It gives us wings.” Umesh told the host broadcasters.
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