According to Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Siraj’s non-availability dented the bowling attack of the visitors.
South Africa defeated India by 7 wickets in the second Test in Johannesburg, on January 6. Courtesy of Proteas skipper Dean Elgar’s gritty knock of 96* along with cameos from other batters, the hosts managed to level the three-match series with one to go. While reviewing the final day of the second Test with Cricbuzz, Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik pointed out one of the reasons for India’s loss in Johannesburg.
On the rain-affected day, India needed 8 wickets, while South African batters required 122 runs to take the Test match home. Due to the resilience shown by the batters, the visiting bowlers were not able to create too many chances. And Karthik believes that Mohammed Siraj’s non-availability further dented India’s bowling attack. He remarked that the KL Rahul-led squad failed to attack the South Africa batters efficiently.
“They probably didn’t bowl at their best. And the main reason why India struggled through this test match was obviously the absence of Siraj,” he opined.
In his review, Karthik said that India, being the number one Test cricketing nation in the world, would be a little disappointed with their performance.
In the second innings of the Test match, Indian bowlers Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, and Ravichandran Ashwin scalped one wicket each, as South Africa easily chased down the target of 240 runs.
Karthik said that Siraj’s ability to seam the ball well in and out would’ve been a massive difference in the match.
The third and the deciding Test match between India and South Africa will be played from January 11. As per the recent update, Virat Kohli is most likely to be a part of the squad.
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