Poor technique, not pitches responsible for Proteas' loss : Amit Mishra

New Delhi, December 1 - Brushing aside the controversies over the nature of the pitches during the ongoing Test series against South Africa, India leg-spinner Amit Mishra said on Tuesday that poor batting technique is more responsible for bowlers' domination.

The pitches during the series have been spinners' paradise with the first and third Tests at Mohali and Nagpur respectively being decided within three days. Even the second Test in Bengaluru saw 12 wickets fall on the opening day before heavy rain forced the match to be abandoned.

"There was a lot of turn in the wickets, but the low scores were more due to lack of technique from the South African batsmen. Many of the dismissals were due to poor judgement of edges resulting from a lack of proper application," Mishra told reporters here on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old pointed out that since Indians have to deal with fast and bouncy tracks during foreign tours, visiting teams have to cope with the unique conditions in the sub-continent.

"Visiting teams have to adjust to the conditions of the country they are playing in. When we travel outside the sub-continent, we have adjust to the pace and bounce. So when other teams visit us, they should adjust to Indian conditions. It is all about adaptability," Mishra said.

"It is a given that there will be more turn on offer when teams come to India. Batsmen need to do their homework and improve their technique on pitches that offer turn. I believe they are under a lot of pressure because we have not given them boundary balls," he added.

Mishra also lamented the fact that the focus on the pitches has undermined the performance of the Indian spinners. The Indian spin trio consisting of Mishra, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have clinched 47 of the 50 South African wickets to fall so far in the series.

Ashwin is the most successful bowler in the series with 24 wickets. Jadeja has 16 scalps to his name while Mishra has seven.

"We have not been given due credit, with so much talk about the pitch. Our achievements should have been highlighted more and talked about. Our home conditions have been like this for the last 15 years and it is not from today. When we went to Sri Lanka, we got turning tracks there and bowled well," Mishra said.

"If the spinners are bowling well, then at least praise them for doing well. It is not that spinners got wickets only because of these pitches. We also have done well outside the country," he added.

The experienced leg-spinner is happy with his form during the series and asserted that the understanding between the Indian bowlers is responsible for their success.

"It is very important to understand each other's games and trust each other to build a winning combination," he said.

"The delivery with which I got Hashim Amla in Nagpur is my second best after the one with which I got AB de Villiers out during the second innings in Mohali. That was more crucial as they had many wickets and the target was not too big," Mishra added.

Agency