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Kolkata: Indian coach Gary Kirstein gave full credit to Indian bowlers for getting the hosts back into the game 'from a spot of bother' on the opening day of the second cricket Test against South Africa here Sunday.
'It was an interesting day. I don't think we started off as we would have liked to. But later on we played well. Full credit to the bowlers, the way they bowled in the later stages to put us right back into the game,' Kirsten said.
'We stuck to what we believed in,' Kirsten told mediapersons after the first day's play at the Eden Gardens.
Cruising at 218 for one, South Africa finished the day 266 for nine and at one stage lost half a dozen wickets for only ten runs post-tea.
'The turnaround came when we first got Hashim Amla out and Jacques Kallis shortly thereafter,' said Kirsten.
However, Kirsten was cautious. 'In the first Test we got one bad day, and that built pressure on us.'
Asked whether his side missed a third seamer, the South African said: 'Yes, we would have liked a third seamer. But seeing that the wicket has less grass than yesterday, we took two spinners. The balance of the team does not permit us to opt for five bowlers.'
Praising pacer Ishant Sharma, who got one wicket, Kirsten said he bowled well. 'He is an exceptionally talented bowler. All these days when he was not getting results we felt he was on the edge of doing well.
'Today in the later stages, he was he was making the ball up, and do beautiful things. More than getting wickets he was setting the team up for what we wanted to achieve.'
Kirsten said it was a very good wicket, and had a 'very good carry.'
Lauding offie Harbhajan Singh, who finished with three for 60 and was once on the verge of getting a hat-trick, the Kirsten said: 'He has been bowling really well. We saw how he bowled today. It is worth watching what he can really do to get the wickets'.
The coach did not agree that the 'turbanator' was not at his best. 'There is a risk of judging one only by the results.He bowled well in Bangladesh. He bowled well in the first Test also. The South Africans played very well in Nagpur.'
Describing experienced pacer Zaheer Khan as the leader of the attack, Kirsten wondered how he went on delivering Test after Test. Zaheer claimed the prize wickets of South Arican skipper Grame Smith, and centurions Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla to return with a figure of three for 77.
Kirsten conceded that the Indians knew they were in trouble when South Africa raced to 228 for two at tea. 'Honestly speaking, we were in trouble. We were in a spot of bother.'
