India had many reasons to be unhappy, from comedic run outs to fluffed catching chances, but what bothered them the most was having to take the field soon after a rain break
India's captain Virat Kohli plays a shot during the third day of the second Test cricket match between South Africa and India at Supersport cricket ground on January 15, 2018 in Centurion, South Africa. Pic/AFP
ADVERTISEMENT
India had many reasons to be unhappy, from comedic run outs to fluffed catching chances, but what bothered them the most was having to take the field soon after a rain break. At 3.19pm the players went off when an electric storm brought brief but heavy rain to SuperSport Park. With the outfield wet, the ball got soaked each time it was played through the infield, rapidly reducing any chances of extracting swing. Virat Kohli, animated as always, voiced his displeasure on the field more than once, chatting away to his teammates.
In the 5.1 overs that India were on the field, 22 runs were conceded, each one crucial in a low-scoring game, and when the umpires ordered the players off for bad light, Kohli was once again aggrieved, as the ball had just begun to swing again. Sanjay Bangar, India's assistant coach, was the first to check out the outfield, and was clearly unhappy with how wet it was with play set to resume. Having rubbed the outfield, Bangar showed his wet hands to the rest of the team in the dressing room, but the umpires were more than happy to get the game going. On the field, India's players repeatedly showed the wet ball to the umpires and made a point of drying the ball with towels, but the officials were insistent that the game should go on.
When the team left the field, Kohli, along with coach Ravi Shastri, and Sunil Subramaniam, the full-time manager, went straight to the match referee's room. It's not clear what words were exchanged, but they weren't happy ones. "Yeah, we were carrying a good momentum so wanted to carry on," Bumrah said at the end of the day. "It's okay. We never get too disappointed because there's still lot of play left in the match. So, we don't get too disheartened that this didn't happen. We wanted to carry on but things didn't work out, it's okay." "It was not too frustrating, you are happy that the spell was going well so you are in good rhythm so you can come back tomorrow and do well again. It's okay. We wanted to carry on, but we were doing as we were told to do."
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here
Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
