Much will hinge on how the Proteas’ batsmen play against slow bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra, and on how the Imran Tahir-led spin attack can challenge the likes of Kohli and Dhoni.
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South Africa hopes its players’ experience in the Indian Premier League will enable it to turn the tables on its host at the start of a grueling 10-week tour of India, coach Russell Domingo said Monday. The Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series will be India’s toughest assignment yet post the 2015 World Cup campaign where they defied expectations to reach the semi-final stage.
– South Africa have hired veteran Australian Michael Hussey for the T20 series to help their batsmen succeed in Indian conditions.
Luckily for South Africa, du Plessis knows Dhoni better than anyone else in South Africa’s squad. It is every player’s dream to stay at the crease and take his team to victory.
“Marchant de Lange and Kyle Abbott would have played in these conditions during the IPL, while Kagiso (Rabada) may be new to these conditions so it’s important for him to understand what works and what doesn’t, to assess early on especially against a formidable line-up in the Indian team”. Since most of these players have switched franchises in the past, they are aware of the behaviour of different pitches across India. The South Africans were able to pile on a massive 189 from 20 overs but their bowlers were off the boil as lost the tie by eight wickets. There is no qualification at stake, that’s automatically in the bag with the ICC’s insular system of refusing to let cricket grow, so the only good thing that could possibly come from this little jamboree is trying new things. “The three of us play all formats and when one is not the captain, we can enjoy cricket without the extra responsibility”.
General Secretary, Vinod Phadke has been name as manager of the India team for the India-South Africa series starting on October 2.
“We’re in Delhi, our first training session is about to start in a couple of hours”. Both the teams have advantages and disadvantages. Young left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who has represented India in 18 ODIs and two T20 matches, believes that even though turning the ball would be hard on the fast-paced HPCA ground, the tweakers will get benefitted by the bounce.
It’s still early days with the serious business beginning on Friday with the first of three T20s against India in Dharamshala.
South Africa’s strength, though, lies in its pace bowling.
Team director Ravi Shastri said although India’s immediate focus was on winning the three-match series, it will also help to identify areas that need improvement.
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Both sides were allowed to field 12 players although the normal 11 batting and fielding rules applied.
