When the Indian bowlers restricted South Africa to 270, one got a feeling that the ball was in India’s court. It looked so even for the first half of India’s run-chase when Rohit Sharma made batting look easy on a pitch that was changing its nature as the game progressed. After Rohit’s departure India found two of their best finishers of the game - Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni – at the crease. Though they looked like getting to the target, they just couldn’t time the ball well and get those big shots out of the closet. India captain MS Dhoni reckoned the pitch became difficult to bat on as the game progressed. “The pitch behaved very differently in the first half of the innings and as the game progressed it became more and more difficult for the batsmen to score runs,” he said. “The pitch continued to get on the slower side in the second half. It got very difficult for the batsmen to rotate the strike. In the chase the pitch was getting slower and we were not able to play the big shots and it became difficult for us to score 270.” Dhoni also reasoned the slow pace of the run-chase at the start of the innings as one of the reasons for not having achieved the target. “I felt the first 10 overs were crucial. I don’t think we got too many runs in the first ten overs especially with the fact that the pitch was getting slower. It was a crucial period from the 30th to 40th over as well. We wanted to bat quite late but at the same time we started playing the big shots close to the 37th over onwards.” That was the time when Virat and Dhoni were eyeing the big shots, but failed to do so. “We were not able to connect. Both me and Virat were set and wanted to play the big shots but we could never middle anything. If the set batsmen were finding it difficult to connect the ball, it was difficult for the batsmen who came after us to play the big shot. Not to forget, the outfield here is really big which meant when you played the big shot, more often than not you have to clear the fielder,” he said. Also, the run-chase had a bit of surprise in store when Kohli walked out to bat at number 3; a position that Dhoni has been wanting Rahane to bat at in the series. “In this game I felt it was important for Virat to bat at no.3,” Dhoni said shedding light on the decision to get Kohli back to his original batting position. “The positive was the fact that Ajinkya Rahane batted really well when he got an opportunity at the top of the order,” he began to elaborate. “We all know he plays authentic cricket shots and he can exploit the field without taking too much of a risk. It will also help him (Rahane) when he comes and bats at 4. It will give him a bit more confidence of playing the big shots whenever he has to. I feel Virat can bat at any number in the batting line up. I don’t think slot really matters for him.” Also, Suresh Raina has not been in the best of forms of late and he does not have the best of numbers to show against his name in the series so far. Dhoni felt, Raina needed to spend some more time in the middle before going for the big shots. “I think more than the form, he needs to give himself a bit more time. More often than not he has gone in and played the big shot. Whenever you go in, you actually have more time than what you think. I feel it is important for him to play a few more deliveries. It is not easy to straightaway play the big shots especially in outfields that are quite big. He needs to give himself a bit more time because it is very difficult to find people who can clear the big outfield right from the very first delivery.”