"We didn't expect wicket to deteriorate so quickly": Morne Morkel on Eden Garden's pitch

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 15 (ANI): India bowling coach Morne Morkel opened up on Shubman Gill's unexpected neck stiffness that forced the captain to retire hurt after scoring four runs on Day 2 of the Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens.

Speaking about Gill's condition, Morkel said, "I think we first need to determine how he got the neck stiffness, maybe just a bad night's sleep. I don't think it's, or we can put it down to load, you know, Shubman is a very fit guy, he looks after himself very well, so it was just unfortunate this morning that he woke up with a stiff neck and that carried him into the day, which was crucial for us. You know, another sort of partnership with him batting around was going to be needed first of the time, and yeah, just bad timing."

India struggled and were bowled out for 189, failing to build a substantial first-innings total.

All-rounder Washington Sundar walked out at No. 3, a move Morkel fully supported.

"I think he did really well. I mean, Washington has been brilliant first with the bat. Every time he got the opportunity, and you know, what a nice sort of opportunity for him in this game to go at three and use him while he is in good form at the moment and hit the ball well. I think also with that, it allows us certain options lower down in the order. So yeah, I thought it was a brave call to make, but you know, also a quality player that's playing good cricket at the moment, so why not give him that opportunity?"

Speaking about the Eden Gardens surface, Morkel admitted that even the Indian camp was taken by surprise by how fast the pitch broke down.

"Even we didn't expect the wicket to deteriorate so quickly. You know, looking at it the day before the game, even the morning of the game, I thought we all 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. 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're facing here at the moment."

Morkel added that India have the resources to tackle any surface. "So in terms of surfaces, you know, obviously we want to play to our strengths, and you know, we've got, in saying that, we've got quality with seam and it's spin. So we cover both bases. So for us, it's just a matter of what is in front of us and to play that, you know, as best as possible."

Despite India's low total, bowlers brought the team back into the contest. At stumps, South Africa were 93/7, holding a slender 63-run lead, leaving the match finely balanced. (ANI)

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