Guwahati, Nov 23 (IANS) India bowling coach Morne Morkel said the team had put in plenty of effort on day one of the second Test against South Africa at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium and hoped the bowlers could make early inroads on day two.

India’s disciplined attack persisted hard to keep South Africa to 247/6 on day one of the game they need to win to level the two-game series 1-1.

“Obviously to get those wickets as early as possible, to start with a good energy, good body language. Now for me, my main focus, because we’re chasing the win here, is just to play it hour by hour, session by session, and really control what we can control.”

“That is getting the ball in the right area, staying calm when there’s a partnership. But important that we start well this morning. We’ve done a lot of hard work yesterday, so hopefully we can get firing,” Morkel told broadcasters ahead of day two’s play.

Asked about yesterday’s bowling efforts, Morkel said, “Yesterday I felt was a traditional day of Test match cricket. A good surface, hard work with the ball to break up those partnerships. But I thought we did really well in controlling the scoring rate in that second session. To pick up those wickets in the third session, and get them six down was a solid effort.”

Quizzed about what are the chats with bowlers in intervals during a day of Test match cricket, Morkel explained, “I think it all depends on the situation. Normally at the break we’ll just show them the pitch maps, or have a small conversation and give them options to batter. But like you said, they’re seasoned, they’re experienced, they know what to do, how to go about their business.”

“I think as a bowling unit we’ve grown a lot over this year – understanding situations and bowling while in partnerships, I think that for me is the key here in India. If you can create pressure from both ends, you give yourself an opportunity. These guys always go out and they give 100 percent, and sometimes you just have to say, listen, what is important here in front of us, and we play the situation slightly better.”

The former South Africa fast bowler signed off by saying he’s learning a lot from the current crop of Indian spinners on increasing his knowledge about spin bowling. “I’m learning a lot from them. I think so far that’s been for me a great opportunity to work with these world-class spinners.”

“I think as soon as we can, or the more, we can keep the stumps in play, and play around with our pace and asking questions, there’s always opportunities here on these surfaces, getting the ball in the right area with energy behind the ball, I think that is key. But they’re masters of their craft, and for me, I’m learning a lot from them.”

–IANS

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