"Very good wicket to bat on": Kuldeep Yadav opens up about Guwahati Pitch after conclusion of Day 2

Guwahati (Assam) [India], November 23 (ANI): India leg spinner Kuldeep Yadav has commented about the Guwahati pitch after the conclusion of the second day of the ongoing second and final Test match against South Africa at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

South Africa posted 489 on the board in the first innings, on a pitch which offered less help to the Indian bowlers. The visitors batted 151.1 overs as India failed to get wickets at regular intervals.
During the post-day press conference, Kuldeep commented that the Guwahati pitch is very good to bat on. Yadav added that there wasn't much turn from the pitch, and he and Jadeja discussed the surface.

"I got a little bit of turn there in the first session, after that it was very good to bat on. There wasn't any turn yesterday as well as today. Today was much better to bat because I mean I hardly get any turn, even me and Jadeja we have been talking about but the wicket was very good to bat on. I mean, I personally thought that we bowled very well in the first session and you need to bowled very well in the first session," Kuldeep said.
"There were 61-62 runs in the first session which was very good and obviously when you come to the second session, the score was good on the board and the way Marco Jansen took on, obviously the wicket was good and he took chances and did a good batting and this happens generally when the partnership is long and you are in a stable position with the other team then they want to capitalise and the wicket was good for batting so I thought that the bowlers put in a lot of effort but the wicket didn't help much but they did a good batting as well," Kuldeep added.
The Indian leg spinner stressed on bowling in good areas and using the field according to your plan when the wicket is good to bat on.
"When the wicket is good, you just try to bowl in good areas and use your field according to your plan. Setting up the field was very important and I thought we did really well but when they got the good total on the board and they tried to go hard on us, they were very lucky in that way but when the wicket is good to bat on, we actually tried to beat them in the air but they connected really well and Jansen and Muthuswamy batted really well. I thought the first session, the wicket keeper and Muthuswamy were very good with their bat," he said.
Coming to the match, South Africa made 489 runs in the first innings after Senuran Muthusamy notched up his maiden Test century and 93 from pace bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen, which put India into bat after two days of hard toil on the field.
Earlier, Proteas, who were at 247-6 on stumps on Day 1, started their first session on Day 2 on a brilliant note. It was a wicketless session after they 316-6 as Muthusamy (56*) and Verreynne (38*) frustrated India at the stroke of Tea.
Resuming after the Tea, Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Kyle Verreynne for 45. Jansen joined the crease and started playing aggressively alongside Muthuswamy.
The all-rounder Muthusawamy reached his maiden Test century in 192 deliveries, while Jansen brought up his fifty in 53 deliveries as the duo added an unbeaten 94-run stand by lunch.
Resuming from 428/7 after Tea, Mohammed Siraj removed Muthuswamy for 109 runs. After Muthusamy's wicket, Jansen accelerated his innings even further as he hit two sixes to Ravindra Jadeja. He then hit a boundary and a six in Siraj's over as well.
Jasprit Bumrah removed Simon Harmer as the Proteas lost their ninth wicket at 462, before Kuldeep removed Jansen for 93 as the visitors posted 483 on the board.
At stumps on Day 2, South Africa bowled 6.1 overs with India at 9-0. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (7) and KL Rahul (2) are at the crease.
Brief Scores: India 9-0 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 7, KL Rahul 2) vs South Africa 489-10 (Senuran Muthusamy 107, Marco Jansen 93; Kuldeep Yadav 4-115). (ANI)