India v/s South Africa: A farce of a Test series so far

The number of wickets that have fallen in the third Test so far is just a pointer to how disgraceful this India-South Africa series has turned out to be.

Day 2 of a home Test. A sporty Test wicket would see either the home or the visiting side playing good, competitive cricket and battles will be based on how each side plays each session. Sometimes, sessions can be good for one side, while other sessions can turn a Test match around completely. 

We’ve seen some great Ranji cricket matches this year, particularly the recently concluded Mumbai versus Madhya Pradesh and before that Mumbai versus Railways. The wickets were sporting and Mumbai managed to chase totals, thanks to great skill and temperament that is expected from players playing at the highest level of cricket. 

However, the India-South Africa Test series so far has ended up being a complete farce. In fact, farce is too mild a word to use given how the first Test match unfolded. The second Test ended in a washout, but I wouldn’t have been surprised had that Test ended in three days as well.  

Preparing wickets such as this one reveals the following:

Firstly, it shows how inept Indian batsmen are at playing spin bowling. Preparing wickets such as the one in Nagpur is an insult to the game. It implies going in with a frame of mind that suggests that while India are rubbish at playing spin, the South Africans are worse, so we will win. It shows that whoever is making such decisions, believes that home advantage is more sacrosanct than the spirit of the game in general. And this is just because South Africa are playing in India. If Australia were playing in India right now, these kinds of wickets would NOT be prepared, primarily because the Indians would struggle against the off-spin of Nathan Lyon and even Steve Smith. Also, had Michael Clarke not retired from international cricket, he would have probably been the leading wicket taker on these minefields.

Secondly, wickets like these will give bowlers such as Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja unnecessary confidence that they can recreate this magic outside the subcontinent . I say this again because of the attitude in the Indian dressing room on Wednesday. While India were 125/6, there were players in the dressing room laughing, looking at the turn that the South Africans were able to generate from the pitch. They probably were waiting for the Proteas to come out and bat to turn the tables on them. And that's what happened. 
Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra can turn the ball on a regular sporting surface. They showed this on wickets in the recently concluded series in Sri Lanka where the three Tests, which were dominated by India at most times, still showcased the skill of the players rather than poorly prepared wickets. Unfortunately, the BCCI, which rules world cricket, will have the last say. Wickets such as this one affect the image of Test cricket negatively and divert crowds to watch shorter versions of the game.

Finally, preparation of these wickets indicates the faith the BCCI has in our cricketers. We have a good Test squad and we proved this in Australia (even though we lost) and in Sri Lanka under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. We have played positive cricket, have been aggressive and prefer wins or losses to draws. In addition, our bowlers seem to click on sporting wickets. The Indian team bowled out Sri Lanka in all the Test matches on our last tour and while we did not bowl out Australia in all the Tests during the 2014-15 series, both the batsmen and bowlers did put pressure on the host side. Even in the 2-0 loss, the players earned the respect of the opponents, the media and the fans back home.

What adds insult to injury is the bunch of commentators defending the wickets and attributing the success of Ashwin, Mishra and Jadeja to their skill. There is no question regarding their skill, but do not bring it to bear on this wicket. If you want to talk about skill, acknowledge players – South African or Indian – who score runs on these surfaces. We haven't seen a century in this series yet, which rests our case on what a farce this series has turned out to be.

The BCCI seriously needs to rethink its strategy. So what if we lose a Test? Just because we played poorly in the ODI and the T20 series, it does not justify wickets like these. BCCI and Team India, wake up! If you prepare wickets like these, be prepared to face the consequences when you travel abroad.