By Sirshendu Panth, IANS,
Kolkata: South African coach Corrie Van Zyl feels his boys failed to execute the gameplan well on Day Two of the second Test against India, but concedes that the best of fielding sides can get unsettled when Virender Sehwag gets going.
“I don’t think we executed our gameplans particularly well today,” Corrie said, but claimed that the three late Indian wickets, including those of centurions Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, in the final session Monday restored the balance of the match.
“The last three wickets, of which two were really big wickets, set up for a good day tomorrow,” he said.
From 331 for two, India lost the two veterans and also Subramaniam Badrinath within five runs to end the day at 342 for five.
“Going into the dressing room tonight we are happy with the three wickets we took and that just brought the balance of the game back. We need to look at a few things and step up in few areas,” said Corrie.
While disagreeing that his team had panicked following Sehwag’s onsalught, the South African coach emphatically said he would ask his charges why they failed to implement the gameplans.
“We need to go and understand why we didn’t execute the gameplans. Those are the kind of questions I need to ask as a coach, which I will do later today or tomorrow.”
When told that Sehwag has always defied all strategies, he said: “One thing about strategies is executing them, which is the most important thing.”
He agreed that when Sehwag gets on song, then “it is unsettling to everybody, yes. The fact that he scores so quickly and gets the crowd behind him so all of that is unsettling. ”
Comparing Tendulkar’s innings here with his hundred in the opening Test match at Nagpur, Corrie said: “Those were two different innings, both very important. Sachin is a special batter.”
Corrie also said that his team wavered in patience. “Our patience today was something that was lacking here. That is one thing we as a team can improve on� patience as a bowling attack.”
He admitted that spinner Paul Harris did bowl to a negative line.
“You can see it as a negative line and the umpire did think so, too, and obviously those were called wides.”
“(But) there was not much turn as it was in Nagpur for Paul Harris and that he needed to be content with. But Harry (Harris) did a good job for the team.”
“We were too full at times and the short balls were the least run-scoring balls,” Corrie added.
Asked whether pacer Dale Steyn failing to make an impact was disappointing, he said the match had a long way to go. “You can’t make that type of a statement. The last wicket he took (of Badrinath) came with a special type of delivery. He could still make an impact.”
Corrie said his side missed regular keeper Mark Boucher, who had to opt out of the game with back spasm.
Stand-in keeper A.B. de Villiers missed a stumping chance of Sehwag when the batsman was at 129.
“Boucher is a crucial player and I much rather have a guy like Mark Boucher in the team and it is a real pity he is not available due to his back injury. De Villiers was good and obviously he is unhappy about the fact that he has missed that opportunity because he knows what that means to the team,” he said.