Graeme Smith bemused by the Indian reply on the last day
The South Africans expected their opposite numbers to opt for a different approach on the last day of the first test. Skipper Graeme Smith was taken by surprise when the play on the last day began. He explained how the expectations
were to be given a tough time by the Indians, and how that did not happen. Perhaps the feeling was that the last two wickets would require the Proteas a lot of hard work. However, the no.1 ranked Test team in the world proved http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Swift-c41334 resilient when it came
to the last day.
Smith was bombarded with questions at the press conference, revolving mostly around Sachin Tendulkar. He was asked to comment on the knock by the legendary batsman, but he opted for a balanced approach.
“It was good, but the support from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 was also that contributed to the cause in getting to that 50thcentury landmark” explained Smith. Obviously, the captain was bewildered from the approach that the legendary Indian batsman came out
with. “To be honest, I was a little surprised” is how Smith summed up his emotions.
The Proteas were not expecting Sachin to remain off strike and let his inexperienced campaigners take most of the hammering. They were taken by surprise when Tendulkar nudged around the ball, taking singles, and exposed the strike
to either Sreesanth or http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jaidev-Unadkat-c1626. Smith admitted the fact that Sachin is a class act, who scores runs quite frequently under pressure. However, he was not ready to believe that his team got to the Indians in no time, defeating them with an innings and
25 runs.
Even after the dismissal of Sreesanth, Sachin pushed around the debutant fast bowler Jaidev to take most of the strike. As a result, things went according to the plan for the South Africans. This was like one gifting the other
team a win and showing no resistance. Jaidev tried hard to defy the fiery bowling from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722, but his partner’s “support” disheartened him.
Smith also grilled the Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh, when a comparison was drawn with Paul Harris. He was of the opinion that Paul did not give away easy runs and held the match whenever it was needed. Harbhajan, on the other
hand, did not prove to be threatening, according to Smith. Although, an element of surprise was there in Smith’s talk, yet the satisfaction of a win was evident.
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