"489 is too many" - Cheteshwar Pujara's big statement on India's bowling on Day 2 of IND vs SA 2025 2nd Test

Former India player Cheteshwar Pujara has opined that the Indian bowlers would be slightly disappointed with their performance on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa. He highlighted that the hosts allowed the visitors to post a huge total despite having taken their first six wickets for less than 250 runs.

South Africa posted 489 in their first innings in Guwahati on Sunday (November 23) after starting the day at a slightly precarious 247/6. India ended the day at nine for no loss in their first innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (7*) and KL Rahul (2*) surviving 6.1 overs.

Reviewing the game on Star Sports, Pujara reckoned that the Indian bowlers conceded too many runs on Day 2 of the Guwahati Test.

"The Indian bowlers put in a lot of hard work, but the result didn't go in their favor. There will be a little disappointment in the dressing room for sure, considering the way they bowled yesterday. They had picked up six wickets for less than 250, and even if they had got the remaining four wickets for 100 to 125 runs, they would have still been happy," the former India batter said. "However, 489 is too many, especially since a lot of runs were scored for the last four wickets. Even if around 350 runs were scored on this wicket, one couldn't have said bad bowling, but more than 450 should probably not have been scored, especially since you had dismissed the top-order batters and taken six wickets on the first day," he added.

Senuran Muthusamy (109 off 206) and Marco Jansen (93 off 91) starred with the bat for South Africa on Day 2 of the Guwahati Test. Muthusamy added 88 runs for the seventh wicket with Kyle Verreynne (45 off 122) before the spin-bowling all-rounder and Jansen stitched together a 97-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

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"The pace of the pitch reduced a lot" - Cheteshwar Pujara on the potential reason for India's below-par bowling on Day 2 of IND vs SA 2025 2nd Test

Kuldeep Yadav (4/115) was India's most successful bowler in South Africa's first innings. [P/C: BCCI/X]

In the same discussion, Cheteshwar Pujara opined that the slowness of the pitch might have reduced the Indian bowlers' efficacy.

"There could be only one thing due to which the bowling wasn't that good today - the pace of the pitch, because the bounce was still good. The pace of the pitch reduced a lot today, and because of that, our fast bowlers weren't that effective," he said.

While observing that the Indian spinners are not used to bowling on such pitches, the cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that the game isn't finished yet.

"Along with that, the spinners haven't bowled much on such wickets. So the Indian bowlers had very few options there. However, end of the day, there will be slight disappointment for sure, but the match is not yet over," Pujara observed.

Cheteshwar Pujara reckoned that India can still win the Guwahati Test. He reasoned that the Indian batters have a lot of potential and can surpass the South African total.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer