India vs South Africa: Pace has its place, even on turners

With a total of six wickets for 54 runs, paceman Morne Morkel had the second best figures for a bowler from either side — after R Ashwin (12 for 98) — in the Nagpur Test , which was dominated by spinners. (Source: AP)

On a vicious Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, where spinners ruled the roost, one pacer made life difficult for the Indian batsman. Morne Morkel’s match-figures of 6/54, were the second best after Ravichandran Ashwin, the bowler who has been unplayable on a track where puffs of dust came off and the ball turned from the first over of the game.

Ahead of fourth Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi, the focus once again is not on the tall fast bowler from Transvaal. The pitch, Dale Steyn’s fitness and the spinners from both side are the talking points. However, those who have watched Morkel closely feel he can again be a threat to the Indian top order. Among those who are impressed by his lion-hearted efforts in Nagpur are former India fast bowlers: Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad.

The duo, after all, know a thing or two about bowling on such unresponsive tracks for fast bowlers in India. Often the duo would toil away in the 1990s, while it would be Anil Kumble, the lead spinner, who would end up with more wickets against his name.

“It’s not easy what he did in Nagpur,” says Srinath, praising Morkel’s effort. “For someone who bowls short day in day out, to adapt and change lengths was a great thing. Adaptability is the key of course, and that comes with experience. With the new ball in the second innings, he started bowling cutters much before the reverse swing could set in,” Srinath says.

Prasad, who used to be Srinath’s new-ball partner, explains why the lanky speedster got his scalps on the slow pitch with low bounce. “Morkel bowled smartly,” Prasad said. He adds that Morkel, with his height and disconcerting length,will be a more difficult proposition than Steyn.

“I would say Morkel is more difficult to play on these pitches than Steyn. This is because Steyn pitches it up and gives you the driving length. If you cover the swing, you can play your shots. Morkel, on the other hand, is basically a back-of-a-length bowler who hits the deck. Sometimes, batsmen are caught in no-man’s land – they’re undecided about whether to go forward or stay back. Also, because of his height, Morkel extracts more bounce, making it very difficult to play him on the front foot,” he adds.

It’s easier said than done. In the fours days of cricket preceding the Nagpur Test, spinners from both teams had dominated the proceedings. All of a sudden, he was in the thick of the action, more so because of the absence of Dale Steyn — South Africa’s wrecker-in-chief during their last outing at this venue.

After getting first use of the wicket, South Africa’s premier fast bowler found it difficult to hit the straps. On the slowish wicket, he started off by bowling to his strengths — seam upright backed by good pace and just short of a good length. It was the obvious ploy for Morkel, which had fetched him dividends in his 8-year international career.

However, the sluggish track did not provide him with any assistance. In his opening spell — which consisted of four overs — he rarely looked like troubling either Murali Vijay or Shikhar Dhawan. The shorter Morkel bowled, the easier the ball would sit up, helping Vijay and Dhawan to play the horizontal shots to good effect. The rather uneventful first spell did not deter Morkel though.

The turnaround

By the time he had returned for his second spell — barely half an hour before lunch — India had already nosed ahead. A 50-run opening stand between Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan had given hosts the perfect platform. Morkel began by altering his length — bowling much fuller, and the abrasive Nagpur wicket helped him reverse the ball as early as in the 20th over. Morkel’s change in plan provided him instant results.

In the second ball of the 22nd over, Morkel bowled a fullish delivery. It moved away late, and the Tamil Nadu opener tried to work it on the on-side, but ended up getting beaten by the sharp late movement. The ball thudded onto his pads. Vijay was adjudged LBW. India were 69/2 before lunch. Getting India’s batting mainstay before lunch had brought parity.

Sensing an opening, Morkel decided to go for the kill. Post lunch, he continued bowling fuller lengths, and with one side of the ball roughed up, he tested Pujara and Kohli with the reversing deliveries.

A sharp outswinger from Morkel, brought about an edge from Ajinkya Rahane. Luckily for India, the edge would land just short of the slips. Rahane’s stay was shortlived though. India’s No.5 was anticipating yet another outswinger from Morkel. Instead, the ball darted back in off the seam, and Rahane played down the wrong line to get his stumps castled. Two overs later, India captain Kohli was undone by another Morkel outswinger. In an attempt to go for an expansive drive through the covers, Kohli ended up nicking it to the keeper. All of a sudden, from 1/69, India had slumped to 5/116 in the space of 18 overs.

A simple tweak in plans worked wonders for Morkel. The change in length had taken the Indian batsmen off guard. The 31-year-old’s three-wicket burst in the afternoon session swung the momentum back in favour of the visitors.

“That’s how you ball in these conditions. There’s no specific approach, but it is important to play with the batsman’s mind. You will always get reserve swing due to the nature of the pitches. It’s important to keep one side shiny. Different bowlers have different strategies…but the main thing is that you always have to keep the batsman guessing and be one step ahead,” Prasad added.

And Morkel was one massive stride ahead of them.

(Inputs: Shamik Chakrabarty)