Graeme Pollock rates Virat Kohli's outfit 'best', South Africa 'flat'

India's wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha celebrates after taking a catch to dismiss SA's Theunis de Bruyn yesterday. Pics /AFP

Graeme Pollock, the South African golden great would like to see visiting teams being awarded the advantage of the toss in alternate Tests to make it a level playing field. More so, after he learnt about South African captain Faf du Plessis's poor luck with the toss in all three Tests of the Freedom Series that ended in Ranchi yesterday.

However, Pollock, 75 won't entertain any excuses for South Africa's poor returns in the Test series. "This is very disappointing to see, a shocking performance," Pollock told mid-day from Johannesburg yesterday after the 3-0 humiliation. No visiting South African has ever been beaten so convincingly on Indian soil before and Pollock was pained at the result. "It was not a decent contest. Nobody looked like getting a good number of runs or wickets. It was an absolute flat show," remarked Pollock, who knows a thing a two about whitewashes. The 1969-70 SA team which he was part of smashed a top Australian side 4-0.

India required two wickets to wrap up the final Test and they did so in the second over of the day, thanks to debutant spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, bowling out the visiting team for 133 for an innings and 202-run win. The Virat Kohli-led Indian team are on top of the World Test Championship table with 240 points.

Graeme Pollock

The professional approach of the Indians has impressed Pollock, who felt this is the best all-round Indian team he has seen in years.

"Yes, there was a time when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman were part of one great side, but this one has the edge because of their bowling strength. It's the best I've seen," he remarked. Pollock did concede that the retirement of top performers like AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and the absence of Dale Steyn have hit the team badly but stressed that the rebuilding process should begin in earnest so that quality players can emerge. Without getting into the blame game, Pollock felt the responsibility now lay in the hands of the coach: "Somebody has to do something. There is a new coach [Enoch Nkwe] and is he the best man for the job?"

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