Internet Desk: India’s young spin-duo duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are proving that they are unplayable on Proteas soil till now in the ongoing ODI series and the Indian skipper Virat Kohli heaped praise on the duo by saying that they can extract turn on any kind of a surface.
The Super Sport Park turf helped Chahal and Kuldeep a lot today as the Men in Blue dismissed the Proteas on mere 118. Chahal ended up with a career-best five for 22. The visitors eventually cantered to a nine-wicket win in the second ODI to go 2-0 up in the six-match series.
“The pitch was harder than Durban and the spinners used it. We knew we won’t get grass on the pitch because when it’s seaming, it can be anyone’s game. We knew the wickets would be hard and dry and knew our wrist spinners can get it to turn anywhere. They just didn’t give South Africa any chance,” said Kohli as the post-match presentation.
The Indian captain had no hesitation in opting to chase.
“If we set up to chase down totals, we know exactly what we want to do. Rohit and Shikhar’s intent at the top is crucial. They started off well in the last game too.
“We back guys to play positive cricket. It’s (2-0) a wonderful position to be in. We know their middle-order was inexperienced, and we wanted to cash in on that.”
Stand-in captain Aiden Markram said batsmen let his team down.
“Not the best performance today. It’s a day about which we have to be really honest with ourselves. There were too many soft dismissals starting from myself.
“It was always going to be difficult to defend (118) but look, the day is over. We can’t afford slip-ups now. It might bring out the best in us,” he said.