Hardik's aggression and boundary-hitting at Cape Town impresses South African golden great Graeme Pollock
Indias Hardik Pandya leaves the field after being dismissed by South African pacer Kagiso Rabada during the second day of the first Test at Newlands on Saturday. PIC/AFP
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya forced South African batting legend Graeme Pollock, 73, to sit up at his home in Johannesburg on Saturday and take notice of his strokeplay. Without Pandya's 95-ball 93, India's total of 209 would have appeared far more feeble, and the innings drew a ring of respectability around the visitors' first innings in the ongoing opening Test at Newlands, Cape Town.
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"I liked Pandya's aggression and his boundary-hitting. You needed someone who could take on an attack like that and this kid did wonderfully well. They bowled a lot of short balls to him and he took them on," said Pollock. The classy left-hander, who played 23 Tests for South Africa for 2256 runs at 60.97, reckoned India have a fine side whose batting group revolved around skipper Virat Kohli. He hoped that there would not be situations where India endure batting collapses as soon as Kohli is dismissed. "Look, with Dale Steyn not going to be around (out due to a heel injury), the Indian team can feel some relief, but the other three pacers (Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada) are very formidable and tall. The Indians will have to play well to get anywhere in this series. That is not to say that they are incapable.
"India have a very balanced team and they have played some wonderful cricket over the last two years, but they will encounter some challenging tracks in Pretoria (Centurion) and Johannesburg (venues for the second and third Test respectively). It generally rains during this time, so India could encounter some fresh wickets," said Pollock. Though South Africa claimed a 77-run lead, Pollock reckoned India could well salvage the situation what with rain taking away the entire Day Two yesterday and the fact that the Cape Town track could get progressively better for the batsmen.
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