South Africa veteran batter Dean Elgar, who played his final match on Thursday, admitted that a third game "would have been fantastic", after India bounced back from an innings defeat in the series opener in Centurion last week to beat the hosts by seven wickets in Cape Town in a Test that lasted only five sessions. Rohit Sharma, India captain, later played down the talk around it, saying that their "hands are tied". However, former India coach Ravi Shastri fumed at the Test series fixture, calling the two-match contest a "waste of time".
Indian bowlers had put on a shoddy performance at the SuperSport Park in the first Test, conceding 408 runs overall as the tourists lost by an innings. However, the unit bounced back in style, with Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah picking six wickets each in either innings to help India draw the series with a seven-wicket in Newlands, which was the shortest-ever completed Test match in cricket history.
Following the completion of the match, a fuming Shastri, on Hindi commentary, questioned the logic behind having a two-match Test series. Reckoning it as a "waste of time", the 61-year-old also felt that the fixture should have only had three T20Is and three Tests.
ALSO READ: Watch: Jasprit Bumrah's ultimate class act as he edits out part where Mohammed Siraj gives him credit
“After watching this Test series, the Indian cricket establishment should make sure to never play just two Tests,” Shastri said. “If some country invites you for a two-Test series, say, ‘We won’t go’. Two-Test match series are a waste of time. It’s neither here nor there. Focus should be on either playing T20Is and Test matches or ODIs and Test matches. They could have easily played 3 T20Is and 3 Tests [on this tour].”
{{/usCountry}}“After watching this Test series, the Indian cricket establishment should make sure to never play just two Tests,” Shastri said. “If some country invites you for a two-Test series, say, ‘We won’t go’. Two-Test match series are a waste of time. It’s neither here nor there. Focus should be on either playing T20Is and Test matches or ODIs and Test matches. They could have easily played 3 T20Is and 3 Tests [on this tour].”
{{/usCountry}}Later on Thursday, in the post-match presser, Rohit was asked if the results would have been different had it been a three-match series, but the veteran opener emphasised that players have no say in scheduling or fixtures, their job is only to perform.
“This is not in our hands. Two matches or three matches, whatever are scheduled, we have to come and play, our hands are tied here. If it actually was in my hands, I would have done something different. But we take a lot of pride in how we managed to come back from what happened in Centurion and win in Cape Town where we never won a Test before,” he said.