KOLKATA: Temba Bavuma wishes that some day, he will get to play on the fifth day of a Test match in India. However, if someone can jog the South African skipper’s memory, Bavuma might just recollect that the first two Tests he played in India — in New Delhi in 2015 and Vizag in 2019 — both went into the fifth day. South Africa lost those two. The two that followed in the 2019 series saw them lose inside four days. Now, of course, comes the Eden Gardens stunner, which finished inside three days, with Bavuma leading the side to a historic win.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Simon Harmer, the 36-year-old off-spinner who had played just 12 Tests since his debut in 2015 till the Eden game, might have been the architect of this win with eight wickets in this match, but it was Bavuma who actually set it all up with a remarkable innings that was like a masterclass in how to play on a turner. “It wasn’t a wicket you couldn’t bat on,” India coach Gautam Gambhir would say later. “Bavuma showed how to do it.”
So, what was the difference between him and the others, given that the Indian batters have grown up on wickets that provide turn? Perhaps it boils down to patience and application. Bavuma stressed that his strength was his defence. That would mean waiting for the right ball to hit. With less than seven sessions into the game, Bavuma knew he had no need to hurry, in contrast to the Indian batters, who seemed to be in a rush to finish things off.
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How do you assess the pitch conditions at Eden Gardens for the Test match?
Dhruv Jurel was brilliant in the run-up to this game, scoring two centuries in the ‘A’ game in Bengaluru. He barged into the team riding his form. But when it mattered most, his performance left a lot to be desired. If he could be excused for being beaten in flight in the first innings, his dismissal in the second innings came about because of lack of patience.“Sometimes you get frustrated when runs are not coming,” South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said. “Bavuma doesn’t always mind these frustrations,” he chuckled.Jurel perhaps did and his 13 off 33 balls could have been playing on his mind when he saw an opportunity to add a few more. Even Rishabh Pant, an extremely talented batter, does not believe in sticking around. An excellent defensive block off Harmer was followed by an attempt to swat the ball away, only to misjudge the flight. With Shubman Gill out injured and KL Rahul back in the hut with almost nothing on the board, someone had to stay put with Washington Sundar. The latter’s credentials in Test cricket are yet to be firmed up and he would have benefitted by having Pant at the other end.Talking about the conditions, the Eden track left a lot to be wanted. Almost everyone who played on it spoke of the uneven bounce. Harmer even referred to the inconsistent turn, even though he seemed to benefit from it the most.Although Gambhir said this was just the kind of pitch they wanted, very few were actually happy with it. The wicket hadn’t been watered for four days, allegedly on the Indian team’s insistence. Tiny clouds of dust late on the second day every time the ball landed showed it was breaking up faster than presumed.
