"Even we didn’t expect wicket to deteriorate so quickly" - Team India coach on Eden Gardens surface for 1st Test against South Africa 

After 15 wickets fell on Day 2 of the Kolkata Test, Team India's bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted that the hosts did not expect the surface to deteriorate so soon. He, however, added that players are expected to adapt to different challenges presented by varied surfaces in Test cricket.

Responding to South Africa's first-innings total of 159, India resumed their first innings on 37-1, but only ended up posting 189. However, by stumps on Day 2, they had reduced the Proteas to 93-7 in their second innings. The visitors have a lead of only 63 runs, with three wickets in hand.

Speaking at a press conference following the end of the second day's play, Morkel admitted that the Indian camp was also surprised by the behavior of the pitch at Eden Gardens. He stated:

"I mean, to be honest with you, even we didn’t expect the wicket to deteriorate so quickly. Looking at it the day before the game, even the morning of the game, I thought, when we watched that first couple of hours, that it was a good wicket. So it did deteriorate quite quickly, which was unexpected. "But I think that’s the beauty sometimes of playing in the subcontinent, that you need to be able to adapt and you need to be able to react to conditions quite quickly and that’s a sort of challenge that we are facing here at the moment. So in terms of surfaces, you know, obviously we want to play to our strengths," the former South African pacer added.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja starred for India with the ball on Day 2. He claimed 4-29 in 13 overs, while Kuldeep Yadav picked up 2-12 in five overs.

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"We will take it game by game" - Morne Morkel on India playing four spinners in Kolkata

India's decision to play four spinners in the ongoing Test against South Africa in Kolkata has met with plenty of backlash. Asked about whether the hosts are going to continue with a similar bowling attack in the next game, Morkel replied:

"We will take it game by game. Pick the best XI that we feel can get the win for India. We are not going to look too far ahead. We are just going to focus now on playing this game as well as possible. Take the learning from that, arrive in Guwahati and see what we get there."

While Jadeja and Kuldeep have claimed four wickets each in the Test so far, Axar Patel has picked up two. As for Washington Sundar, he has bowled only one over in the Test match so far.

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Edited by Renin Wilben Albert