IND vs SA | We didn’t test the Indian batsmen enough, admits coach Enoch Nkwe
South Africa coach admitted that the pace attack were unable to cause problems for the Indian batsmen due to poor line and lengths on what seemed to be a pace-friendly track South Africa let India off the hook on a pitch conducive to fast bowling and conceded 600 runs in the first innings.
Unlike pitch in Vizag that was slow and sluggish, the Pune track was conducive to fast bowling. So it was expected that the likes of Rabada and Philander would cause headaches to Indian batsmen. But the Indian batsmen dominated SA’s bowling, with half centuries from Pujara, Rahane and Jadeja and hundreds from Agarwal and Kohli. South Africa's coach Enoch Nkwe expressed his frustration in the press conference at the end of the day’s play.
"We've got ourselves to blame to be honest. It was conducive to seam bowling, we just didn’t hit our straps. We bowled a little too wide, we didn’t test the Indian batters enough," Nkwe said, reported Sportstar.
"When we do that just allowed the batters to get in and it’s something we need to learn and learn very very quickly," he added.
Nkwe knew that South African bowlers had a chance to make early inroads into the Indian batting line up at the start of both the days where the conditions were ideal for bowling. But he credited the Indian batsmen who saw through the initial tough spell and once conditions got better for batting, piled on the runs.
"It’s credit to the two batters there. They really grounded it out and we just let ourselves down. And it became very difficult because once the wicket started to play a lot better, they took advantage of that," he said.
"One thing I won’t question is the courage of our team. The boys gave it all. That’s something we’ll keep trying to find our way back into the game. That’s something we’ve always spoken about and we’ve shown it in the first Test. Its just a matter of holding it for a longer period of time," the coach added.
Nkwe also congratulated captain Kohli for reaching a career-best score of 254, terming his as a "world-class" player.
"He’s a world class player. Credit to India today in the terms of how they went about their business. It was a very crucial partnership from Rahane and Kohli. He led by example. Great knock from him. Superb to watch," he said
But despite the failure, Nkwe believes that this is a learning curve for his bowlers and that they will use this experience to understand the mistakes that they made to get better in the future.
"When you are bowling to a world class line-up that’s what happens. We take good learning from that. From a batting point of view we need to learn from them on how you can get through tough periods and then apply yourself mentally. Obviously skill execution is going to be very important," he signed off.