NEW DELHI: India team director Ravi Shastri sees nothing wrong in Tests finishing inside three days and suggested South Africa could expect another rank turner in the fourth and final fixture in Delhi next week.

India humbled South Africa with two days to spare in the series-opener at Mohali before repeating the feat in another dustbowl in Nagpur on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series against the world’s top ranked test team.

Forty wickets tumbled in Nagpur with Indian opener Murali Vijay’s 40 the top individual score in the low-scoring contest that followed the rained-out second test in Bangalore.

Visiting captain Hashim Amla could not remember if he had faced more challenging conditions but Shastri was unapologetic about the tracks India have rolled out in the series.

“Nothing wrong with it,” the former all-rounder told ESPNcricinfo. “I would hope the one in Delhi is absolutely the same. I have no qualms about it.

“It just goes to show that with the amount of one-day cricket being played, the tendency to graft, the tendency to spend long hours at the crease is diminishing.

“[The pitch was] absolutely not [a problem]. It’s on both sides...You have to stop cribbing and get on with the job at hand.”

Far from being worried about Tests finishing prematurely, Shastri said he would prefer such results to run feasts like that in Perth, where Australia and New Zealand scored a combined 1,672 runs in the drawn second Test recently.

“Nothing wrong with that [matches finishing inside three days]. It [Nagpur] was a Test match that was moving all the time. You compare this Test to the Test match in Perth, I would pay money for a ticket for this game... To hell with the five days.”

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015

Opinion

Editorial

Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....
Rigging claims
Updated 04 May, 2024

Rigging claims

The PTI’s allegations are not new; most elections in Pakistan have been controversial, and it is almost a given that results will be challenged by the losing side.
Gaza’s wasteland
04 May, 2024

Gaza’s wasteland

SINCE the start of hostilities on Oct 7, Israel has put in ceaseless efforts to depopulate Gaza, and make the Strip...
Housing scams
04 May, 2024

Housing scams

THE story of illegal housing schemes in Punjab is the story of greed, corruption and plunder. Major players in these...