Rishabh Pant has been heavily criticised for his poor shot selection against South African pacer Marco Jansen. However, the Proteas’ star bowler believes that had Pant executed his shot correctly, the outcome could have been very different.
Pant went after Jansen when India were struggling at 102 for 4. The tall pacer delivered a short-of-length ball that climbed on Pant, resulting in a thin edge that was comfortably taken by the wicketkeeper.
Marco Jansen on Pant and execution
Asked if he was surprised by Pant’s shot choice, Jansen replied, “It's not that things will always be going your way. There are times when Rishabh Pant would have hit that one fifty rows back, straight over my head, and then we would be having a different conversation. You have to win the battle of execution.”
Jansen quickly realized during India’s first innings that the pitch offered neither swing in the air nor movement off the surface, prompting him to experiment with bouncers, which proved highly effective on the third day.
Having propelled South Africa to nearly 500 runs (489) with a sensational 93 off 91 balls on day two, Jansen turned his attention to the ball, claiming 6 for 48 in India’s modest first-innings total of 201. Five of his six wickets, except Kuldeep Yadav, were taken with short balls, showcasing a textbook plan B on a track that offered little assistance to conventional bowling.
“The ball wasn’t nipping like in Kolkata, so we had to figure out a plan. When I got my first wicket (Dhruv Jurel) with a bouncer, we thought, ‘okay, let’s see how long this is going to work,’ and it just came off,” Jansen explained.
While Kuldeep Yadav described the Barsapara track as a “road,” Jansen offered a different perspective, calling it a “sporting wicket.”
“It’s a good wicket to bat on. There’s good pace and bounce. If you play the short ball well, you’ll score runs, and if you bowl well, you’ll get wickets.”
He noted that once the ball became soft, he eased off, only returning to pick his final two wickets with the second new ball.
“After that spell, the ball was softer and lacked zip. When the new ball came, the bounce returned, and we used that to our advantage,” he said.
Preparation and challenges of height on sub-continental pitches
Jansen praised the training facilities in Guwahati, noting that the practice pitches closely resembled the actual match surface, which allowed him to prepare effectively.
Although familiar with sub-continental conditions due to IPL and other white-ball assignments, Jansen admitted he had often struggled to maximize his potential on these tracks. His height, he explained, made generating bounce difficult on lower-bouncing pitches.
“I’ve always struggled bowling in India, whether white-ball or red-ball. I’m still jealous of bowlers who can get the ball to nip back because I’m so tall,” Jansen joked. “When there’s a wicket with pace and bounce, I can extract more. Here, I’ve tried to learn what works for me and what helps me perform at my best.”
He concluded on a high note: “It’s just one of those days where everything clicks. As a player, you take it and run with it.”
(By PTI Inputs)
