Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan expressed his dissatisfaction with India’s approach against former South African captain Dean Elgar in the IND vs SA 1st Test in Centurion. India lost the match by an innings and 32 runs as Dean Elgar scored 185 in the first innings.
Playing in his last series after retiring from international cricket, Elgar smashed India’s bowling to score185 off 287 balls as the hosts raced to a first innings lead of 163 runs, preserving their perfect record against India in Tests at home.
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Speaking to Star Sports post-match, Pathan noted that Elgar is vulnerable to short-balls and that the Indian bowlers did not take advantage of that early in his innings.
“Elgar is known to have problems with the short ball. You bowled short balls to him when he was batting at 60-70. In the next match, please bowl short balls to him early. He got out to short balls in 4 times in Australia and I talked about that too in the commentary. You have to bowl very well in the second match to level the series,” said Pathan.
Pathan also expressed his dissatisfaction with India’s bowling performance in the first Test, citing a lack of discipline as well as a failure to find the right mix of attack and defence.
“India did not have any sharpness in their bowling. The Indian bowling unit did not get the balance of attack vs defence right. When Elgar got set, even then India continued their attacking bowling as if they would get him out with one delivery,” Pathan added.
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