Cricket world stunned by 'awful' scenes after Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke swipe

The cricket world has been left in disbelief after 23 wickets fell on day one of the second Test match between South Africa and India after both Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke weighed-in on the drama surrounding the host nation. South African cricket has copped plenty of backlash this week after announcing a significantly weakened team to tour New Zealand after their current series with India.

South Africa recently beat India in a home Test but a ruling from Cricket South Africa, which determined no players contracted to SA20 franchises were eligible for selection, has left the side decimated. Only two players from the South African XI that defeated India, David Bedingham and Keegan Petersen, will tour.

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Former Australian captains Waugh and Clarke have blasted the decision with both claiming the highest honour a cricketer can achieve is playing for your nation in the Test arena. Clarke labelled the decision as 'sad', while Waugh admitted it was a worrying sign for the future of the game.

The South African players have been doing their best to ignore the furore after taking a 1-0 lead against India in the two-Test series. However, the nation has come under more scrutiny after they were bowled out on a quick and unpredictable Newlands pitch for just 55 runs.

The Indian quicks ripped through the South African line-up with retiring captain Dean Elgar winning the toss and opting to bat first. Kyle Verreynne topped scored for South Africa with just 15 runs. However, the drama wasn't over on day one.

India took a substantial lead and looked to be in complete control at 4-153, with Virat Kohli on 46 runs. What followed marks the biggest batting collapse in Test cricket history. In 11 balls, India lost six wickets for no runs.

Elgar admitted no one could have predicted the pitch would become nearly impossible to play on with the speed and inconsistent bounce worrying batters. "When our bowlers click they can rip through any batting line-up and on this wicket that is possible.

"I didn't know the wicket would play in that way, though. With the naked eye it did not look so bad. I don't know what to make of this pitch." The cricket world reacted with utter disbelief as South Africa fight to remain in the Test match still trailing India by 36 runs with seven wickets in hand on day 2. Cricket fans were left bewildered at the scenes with many blasting the Newlands pitch for potential delivering a Test match that won't reach day 3.

Clarke was critical of South Africa's recent Test match decision to take a weakened team to New Zealand and echoed some of Waugh's comments. "I think nothing has changed in my opinion. It's sad to see, to be honest. I understand South Africa's reasoning, but Test cricket is the pinnacle in my eyes," Clarke said on ESPN Around the Wicket. "No domestic competition, in the world, should come in front of it.

"Playing for your country is the most important thing. It is sad to see this is the case. Imagine if Australia did this, imagine if India did this...fans want to see the best players play, but there is no doubt if the best players are not going to be picked for Test cricket, it's an uphill battle."

South Africa tumble in brutal Test match scenes

South Africa's score marked their lowest total since 1932 at a venue where New Zealand were bowled out for 45 in 2013 and Australia for 47 in 2011. Their previous lowest score against India was away at Nagpur when they scored 79 in 2015.

Their score of 55 was significantly lower than their previous lowest at home, which was 130 at the same Newlands venue in 2018. Ashwell Prince admitted it there was something wrong if neither team could find their footing.

“I’ve never seen the pitch that quick on day one,” who played 11 of his 66 Test matches at Newlands. “As a batsman you don’t mind pace in the wicket if the bounce is consistent but the bounce was a little bit inconsistent.

“You expect a bit of seam movement on day one but seam movement with inconsistent bounce is a different situation. Sometimes it happens that a great bowling line-up bowls out a team cheaply but if both batting line-ups can’t bat there’s something wrong.”

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