Didn''t expect the wicket to deteriorate so quickly: Morkel

Kolkata, Nov 15 (PTI) India bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted his side was "surprised" by how quickly the Eden Gardens surface "deteriorated" after a dramatic second day in which 15 wickets fell and the opening Test swung sharply in India’s favour.

India, resuming on 37 for 1, were bowled out for 189, before Ravindra Jadeja (4/29) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/12) left South Africa tottering at 93 for 7, an overall lead of just 63, with only skipper Temba Bavuma (29 off 78) offering resistance.

Morkel said the dressing room had not anticipated such rapid wear and tear on the pitch.

"Yeah, look, I mean, to be honest with you, even we didn't expect a wicket to deteriorate so quickly... we all thought when we watched that first couple of hours that it was a good wicket, so it did deteriorate quite quickly, which was unexpected," he said after the second day's play.

It's this unpredictability that's what make playing in India challenging, he said.

"That's the beauty sometimes of playing in the subcontinent... you need to be able to adapt and react to conditions quite quickly and that's the sort of challenge that we're facing here at the moment." Despite the pitch’s behaviour, Morkel stressed India had prepared to back their strengths.

“We've got quality with seam and spin... we cover both bases. For us it's just a matter of what is in front of us and to play that as best as possible.” Morkel further said India had initially assessed the surface to be a “good wicket”, choosing instead to focus on their plans to attack the South African batting.

“The conversation leading up to the game was that it's going to be a good wicket and it's going to be hard work... so we planned more on how we were going to attack and target the South African batting line-up. We took the thought of the conditions out of the equation.” He said the plan was to adjust session by session.

“We thought it was going to deteriorate as the match goes on... we would adapt on the day and play it session by session.” Morkel, however, pointed to Bavuma’s grit as evidence that runs were still possible.

“Temba showed tonight that it is battable if you can rotate strike and have a solid game plan.” He said batting would be about surviving tough bursts.

“I thought this morning it was going to be a surface where it's tough to score in stages, but then over two or three overs you can get a couple of runs. It's just about fighting through those little tough periods.” It is Indian opener KL Rahul’s first-innings 39 that remains the top score in the match so far, and Morkel said there is no fixed template for batting on this pitch.

“I don't think there's a set format where you just survive. You need to transfer a bit of pressure onto the bowler, look to rotate strike and be busy at the crease,” he said.

“Everybody’s got different strength... it’s up to the batter to work out his best way of scoring whether to be attacking, sweep, or just rotate strike.” Calling India’s first-innings 189 all out “50–60 short”, he said the challenge on this surface was in starting afresh.

“We all agree we could have scored 50-60 more... rotating strike is tricky. Unfortunately, Shubman going down early (retiring hurt) meant another new batter at the crease.” With Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant having captained across the innings, Morkel said both operate within the broader team framework.

"From the outside it's calmer... we can throw out suggestions on how we think we can squeeze more or take wickets. At the end of the day, we win together, lose together and plan together," he said.

"Everybody’s got their way... there’s never a wrong or right way. You reflect after the game, look to get better and find your path to a win." Despite the surprise factor, India still appeared to have a better read of the conditions, going in with four spinners and dropping their designated No. 3 Sai Sudharsan to accommodate Axar Patel.

Morkel said this would not be a fixed template and that India would remain flexible.

"We'll take it Test by Test...pick the best XI that we feel can get the win. Not looking too far ahead. Play this game well, take learnings, then arrive in Guwahati and see what we get," he added. PTI TAP ATK