SA bowling, faulty lineup cost India: Sunny

New Delhi: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar credited South Africa's bowling performance for inflicting an innings defeat on India but also found faults with the combination of the Indian squad for the first Test. He spoke to CNN-IBN.

CNN-IBN: It's not the defeat but the way India were beaten, losing by an innings. How do you explain the loss?

Sunil Gavaskar: The South Africans were much better. They came in with greater determination. The fact that India had been playing against Bangladesh would keep them match fit, but obviously the fact that the South Africans had been playing a tough series against England was something that prepared them a lot better than the series India played against Bangladesh. But it is a comprehensive defeat, no question about it.

CNN-IBN: South Africa were playing in different conditions and yet a comprehensive performance like this, credit has to be given to them for playing so well.

Sunil Gavaskar: Graeme Smith has to be given a lot of credit because they came here with a bit of turmoil back home with the coach and the selection panel removed. For them to come and play in the manner that they did, it takes some leadership to do that. Smith deserves compliments for getting his team to play in the manner they did.

CNN-IBN: It was thought how this game will give opportunities to the younger players but none of them really stood up, and for the first time an Indian line-up without Dravid and Laxman.

Sunil Gavaskar: I was concerned by the squad of 15 that India had. They had three reserve bowlers. When you pick a team, they usually have an idea of who is going to be in the eleven. The question really is, on Indian pitches whether you pick three seamers or two spinners. That's the way the Indian team has been over the last so many years.

There was a question mark on VVS Laxman which was taken care of by having Rohit Sharma as cover. But even then we had three bowlers in the reserves which gives you no flexibility whatsoever. When on the morning of the match something goes wrong... Saha did reasonably well in the second innings, but you could see he was unprepared for the whole thing.

He is not even a regular batsman, but a keeper who can bat. Eventually, India went in with somebody batting at No. 7 instead of somebody batting at six, because that was the whole idea. So the composition of the squad needs to be looked at.

CNN-IBN: Batting never looked difficult on this pitch, so what went wrong? Was it just brilliant bowling by South Africa, or did India miss an extra batter, or we tend to collapse in the face of hostile bowling?

Sunil Gavaskar: Basically it was South Africa's bowling. Dale Steyn bowled a superb spell after tea and Morne Morkel was at the batsmen all the time. More importantly, the other bowlers - Parnell, Paul Harris - they were not leaking runs at the other end. They kept it tight.

CNN-IBN: Dale Steyn's bowling was outstanding especially on day three post tea. Have you seen something like that in recent times?

Sunil Gavaskar: We have seen Allan Donald bowl in that manner. Steyn has been bowling quick, he gets the ball to move. Donald has also done that in the past. Some of the West Indian bowlers along with Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, they have managed to get the ball to swing and bounce as Steyn did.

CNN-IBN: You have played the world's best fast bowlers. What is so special about Steyn and who does he remind you of?

Sunil Gavaskar: Maybe not in the department of pace, but in terms of swing he reminds me of Kapil Dev. Kapil used to get the ball to move away very, very late from the right-handers. It's always a difficult ball to play for top order batsmen. What Steyn did smartly was that he was bowling in-swingers to the tail. That's where he got all the wickets. He mixed it up very smartly.

CNN-IBN: Indian batsmen seemed to be in quite a bit of discomfort to tackle the loopy spin of Paul Harris. Is that an area of concern for India?

Sunil Gavaskar: The line he bowled was very good. He's not a big turner of the ball, but very accurate. He didn't give much to the Indians to try and go down the pitch to. If the Indians were able to go down the pitch and flick him past midwicket as Harbhajan showed in the second innings, then it could have been a completely different matter. But because he was trying to exploit the rough created by the bowlers, the Indians stayed put in the crease.

CNN-IBN: South Africa will take away a lot of positives from this match besides Steyn's bowling. Kallis with his third hundred in as many visits here, backed up by Hashim Amla whose double hundred got them going.

Sunil Gavaskar: The fact that they have scored runs along with AB de Villiers and we know the capabilities of Graeme Smith, it has made India's task look very difficult in Kolkata. Smith will want to make up for his failure while de Villiers will want to carry on from a half-century to a hundred.

CNN-IBN: On the first morning, Zaheer struck twice as they were reduced to 6-2, but it slipped out of India's grasp from thereon. Where did India's bowling go wrong?

Sunil Gavaskar: They were reluctant to toss the ball in the air. We saw Amit Mishra get a bit of turn on the first morning and wrist spinners do get turn on any kind of surface. But he was trying to bowl a lot flatter and quicker, and got targetted by Jacques Kallis. On a pitch like this, the quicker delivery isn't effective. You could say the same for Harbhajan, who seemed reluctant to toss the ball up in the air and try and get the batsmen beaten in flight.

CNN-IBN: India will be under immense pressure to draw level as the No. 1 spot in on the line. What were India's weaknesses in the first Test?

Sunil Gavaskar: They will be under tremendous pressure. They have to win this match, otherwise they'll lose the No. 1 spot. For that there has to be a complete rethink as far as the attitude is concerned. Because even in the batting there was timidity. When you shoulder arms and get bowled - you can do so and get leg before - but to get bowled means you are not covering up. That is not a good sign.

CNN-IBN: We used a dustbowl to bounce back in Kanpur against South Africa in 2008. This time, the BCCI is keen to have a spinning track at the Eden Gardens, but the curator has refused.

Sunil Gavaskar: It's usually the home team's right to have the kind of pitches they want. I don't think they would want to prepare a rank turner because of the way Paul Harris foxed them. They would want to make a wicket which deteriorates gradually. That's the best way to go. I think this wicket was an example of a wicket which was good for batting and then started to help the spinners. They have a good batting line-up but they must cash in.