Dane Piedt should have played earlier in the series: Sanjay Manjrekar

New Delhi: Impressed with off-spinner Dane Piedt, former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar on Thursday said South Africa made a mistake by not playing the youngster earlier in the four-Test series.

25-year-old Piedt, who is playing only his second Test, took four wickets on the opening day of the fourth and final Test and Manjrekar said he is a good find for South Africa.

"Dane Piedt seems to be a good find for South Africa. I think the visitors made a mistake by not playing him earlier in the series. He seems to be an accurate bowler and if there is some purchase for the spinners from the pitch, he can trouble the batsmen," he said.

The 50-year-old Manjrekar also praised the Ferozshah Kotla pitch.

"I think the Kotla pitch has been the best in the series. There is not as much turn as Mohali and Nagpur and there is some help for the fast bowlers too which was evident with the use of short balls by Morne Morkel," he said.

"The highlight of day-one was the way the visitors bowled. Kyle Abbott bowled with a lot of discipline. He bowled a strict line outside the off-stump."

He was disappointed with India's collapse but praised Ajinkya Rahane for anchoring the Indian innings with an unbeaten 89.

"India once again witnessed a mini-collapse, but it was good to see most of the Indian batsmen looking to apply themselves. Only Rohit Sharma got out to a bad shot. Rest of the batsmen looked to apply themselves," he said.

"Ajinkya Rahane was the star for India and he controlled the innings. If he goes on to score a century, it will be the first individual hundred of this series"