Former India pacer questions Indian bowler's tactics against Dean Elgar during 1st Test in Centurion

There has been a lot of criticism of the Indian team after the disappointing loss in the 1st Test against South Africa in Centurion. Right from the batter's approach to the captain plans were all under fire by some experts as the Indians lost by an innings and 32 runs with only a great century from KL Rahul to look back on. It is safe to say nothing went according to plan for India from the start. The batters failed to make contributions and the bowlers were not looking threatening, especially to Dean Elgar who scored a match-winning innings to take South Africa to a 400+ total.

Dean Elgar was no doubt the man of the moment for the Proteas with a wonderful knock of 185 from 287 deliveries which also included 28 boundaries. He was up to the task of what the Indian bowlers were throwing at him with some beautiful drives and great technique. This was also a special inning from the stylish southpaw considering this is his last series before retirement. The 36-year-old will also be seen taking the leadership reign after the unfortunate injury to South Africa captain Temba Bavuma and will have a lot of confidence going into the next match after this knock.

Irfan Pathan questioning Indian bowlers

Former India pacer and T20 World Cup winner Irfan Pathan also had his say on the tactics used by the India bowlers. Pathan did not seem pleased with the Indian bowlers on their plans to bowl to Elgar while talking on Star Sports saying “Elgar is known to have problems with the short ball. You bowled short balls to him when he was batting at 60-70. In the next match, please bowl short balls to him early. He got out to short balls 4 times in Australia and I talked about that too in the commentary. You have to bowl very well in the second match to level the series."

Pathan also further added speaking on the sharpness of the India bowlers as well mentioning that they were inconsistent in their plans saying “India did not have any sharpness in their bowling. The Indian bowling unit did not get the balance of attack vs defence right. When Elgar got set, even then India continued their attacking bowling as if they would get him out with one delivery," this statement from Pathan is something that the India bowlers will understand what went wrong since it is coming from one of the former best pacers of India.