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South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn was left distressed after being heavily criticised by his own fans for opting against chasing victory in the drawn first Test against India, the team’s vice-captain AB de Villiers said. |
The hosts finished eight runs short of a world record target of 458 as they cautiously played out the final three overs at the Wanderers on Sunday, settling for a draw with three wickets in hand. Victory would have comfortably eclipsed the current world record of 418 runs chased down by West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
Steyn was at the crease with Vernon Philander and was seen instructing his batting partner to be cautious, which led to the duo being booed off the field by their own supporters despite salvaging an excellent draw from a game that India dominated for the first four days.
“Dale was really upset, he struggled to handle it,” AB de Villiers, who leads the team in limited-overs matches, told reporters.
“It really took Graeme (Smith) and a few guys to help him handle it immediately, because of the crowds, the booing and everyone criticising him and Vernon (Philander). They took a lot of strain and it was up to the team to pull through that but it was really tough.”
De Villiers, who made 103 in a 205-run stand with Du Plessis (134) to set up the chance for an unlikely victory, reassured Steyn that he made the right decision. “A lot of people are blaming Dale and Vernon but I honestly believe that the numbers nine, 10, 11 should never be going for the runs. It’s up to the top six to score the runs,” he said.
“If responsibility is going to be thrown around, it’s on me, Faf (du Plessis) and JP (Duminy) and maybe a little bit on Vern at the end there. The minute Dale walked to the crease, the right thing to do was to save the test match and I thought they did that brilliantly well.”
De Villiers said captain Smith and coach Russell Domingo have stressed on the achievement of the draw after South Africa made 450 for seven in the second innings on a wearing pitch, the third highest fourth innings total in the history of the game.
“At the end, we had a really good team chat, where Russell and Graeme spoke really wise words and I think the whole team is in a good space after that,” the wicketkeeper-batsman added.
“We pulled up an amazing draw and those were Graeme’s words. It was about just how amazing a team we are and what we’ve achieved over the last while. That we should not go down with the criticism we will get, but to remember that we are a team of character and to keep believing in ourselves and our team-mates.
“That’s why we play the game - for each other. So we look each other in the eye and we are really chuffed with a great draw.” The second Test of the two-match series starts in Durban on Thursday.
India had more positives from drawn first Test: Pujara
Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara sought to play mind games ahead of the second Test against South Africa, saying the visitors had more positives to take from the epic drawn first Test and would like to “build on the gains” from that match.
“If we consider the last match, we have had more positives than South Africa. We batted first when the ball was doing a bit and we batted well. When they batted in the first innings, there wasn’t much help from the track, still we came back with our bowling,” Pujara said.
“In the second innings, they had the opportunity to bat in better conditions. On the last day, we were expecting some more movement from the cracks but it didn’t happen. They were lucky enough to survive,” India’s No 3, who scored an impressive 153 in the first Test, said.
Pujara said that India had a better chance of winning the first Test but it was one partnership between AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, that didn’t go their way.
“We had very good chance to win the match. But it was one good partnership in a session that didn’t go our way. So emotionally and mentally, coming out to play in Durban is a good thing for us. It is a new match and we have to start from scratch. We have to forget what happened in Johannesburg and focus on our plans for this game,” Pujara said.
Pujara did not shy away from stating that South Africa didn’t go for victory as they didn’t have confidence in their tail-enders when asked about the impressive show by the Proteas while chasing a target in excess of 450.
“Only two of their batsmen, Faf and AB scored runs in the whole match. We are confident that we can get their batsmen out. Also, if you notice, they didn’t go for victory in the end, so they are not confident about their tail-enders getting runs,” the Saurashtra batsman pointed out.
Pujara said that his first overseas Test hundred has given him a lot of confidence. “It becomes a bit easier in the next game, but I am not saying that I can walk in there and do the same in this match as well. I will have to work hard obviously, but I had the confidence to score runs overseas.”