Dean Elgar criticises Mohali pitch, says it's a bad wicket

Mohali, Nov 5: South Africa may have bundled out India for 201 on the opening day of the first cricket Test, but wrecker-in-chief Dean Elgar today criticised the turf and said it is a bad cricketing wicket even if it is result-oriented.

Series photos" title="Day 1 report; Series photos" />Day 1 report; Series photos

Elgar, who took four wickets to stop the hosts from taking away the advantage after electing to bat, also stood firm with skipper Hashim Amla when stumps were drawn on the opening day. The Proteas were 28 for two, trailing India by 173 runs and Elgar believes the match can spin either way.

"I don't think it's a very good cricket wicket. It is my personal opinion. It is a result wicket which is expected when you come here. But Kudos to India, they are obviously going to prepare wickets like these against us, I'm sure.

"And we know coming here, it was going to be very different from what we are used to. So it's not a very good cricket wicket but it is a result wicket which can go either way," said a blunt Elgar after the end of the day's play.

Elgar, who turned an unlikely hero with impressive figures of 4-22, conceded that he was surprised by his own performance.

"I'm a little bit surprised with the outcome. Taking four wickets obviously and batting decently. I've always had the ability to bowl. I'm not only a batter. But yeah it was nice to contribute and it's a wicket that is assisting the spinners a little bit and it was nice to obviously bowl India out with the other four bowlers and put them on the backfoot," he said.

PTI