Indian team director Ravi Shastri said that he was cautiously optimistic before the start of the much awaiting South African tour of India. South Africa, who are the best team in the world, play 4 Tests, 5 one day internationals and 3 Twenty20s in India.
While there is no question that South Africa are the toughest side to beat in world cricket, especially at Test cricket, Indians would be confident because of their excellent record at home. Indians don’t normally lose at home, and except for Alastair Cook’s England which won here in 2012, most international teams have struggled to make an impression here.
India did well in their last Test series, coming from behind to win 2-1 in Sri Lanka. That was a hard series to win as Sri Lanka give the Indians a fight every inch of the way. That the Indians won, on foreign territory, is a proof of how far this team has come. Remember – it hasn’t been long since India lost two successive series, both in England and Australia.
South Africa, in contrast, have played very little cricket this year. In fact it has been shocking how they have hardly played any cricket. A team as good as South Africa surely should play more cricket. Even so, it would take a lot more than that if India are to beat South Africa.
Ravi Shastri said in a press conference: “South Africa are the No. 1 team in the world. We have to play consistent cricket for long periods of time to put them under pressure. That will be the endeavour. Our style of play will not change. If you reflect on our performances in Australia and Sri Lanka, you will see that consistency was the difference between defeat and victory. Sustained brilliance will be the key against the Proteas.
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“And that – not letting the opposition off the hook after having them under pressure – demands a lot of patience. We weren’t patient enough both in Australia and during the first Test in Sri Lanka. Once the patience and discipline came, in the next two Tests, we saw the results.”
Unfortunately, India are out without Ishant Sharma, their #1 fast bowler for the first match. Sharma was the star of the series in Sri Lanka, picking up 13 wickets at 23.33. He has also become the fourth Indian medium pacer to pick 200 wickets. But he has also established a reputation for himself as a bit of a hot head, getting into needless clashes with the Sri Lankan players. Was his aggression misplaced?
Shastri, his team director, disagrees: “I know he has copped a lot of flak over the aggression and he will learn where to draw a line. But let me assure you, he has the backing of the entire team. I want him to be aggressive and I will be the first one to push him in that direction. But I will also mark the line. We will miss him for the first Test. He is our most experienced fast bowler.”
Shastri also spoke about the selflessness of the Indian players, how each one fought for the team rather than for himself. He singled out Cheteshwar Pujara for special praise: “Cheteshwar [Pujara] had to sit out a long time and then was asked to open the innings. Not for a moment did he complain or give any excuses, and the reward was there for everyone to see.
“Ajinkya Rahane was asked to go at 3 when we needed more stability after Shikhar’s injury. Rohit [Sharma] was asked to drop back. They both did it in the interest of the team and they scored runs. It is a case of doing things willingly for the team. These guys don’t think, ‘What if’? They say, ‘Why not?’
“When you have everyone fit and ready, the guys will be back in their normal positions. All the chop and change happened because we were encountered with so many injuries right through the series. What do you do then? You have to be flexible and people have to be prepared to do that.”
We will be covering all the matches of the exciting India-South Africa series right here on IndiaBet.org. The series begins with a T20 match at Dharmasala on October 2nd.
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