The lack of preparation is one of the key issues that might hurt India in this series. TOI, after talking to some South African experts, charts the areas of concern ahead of the first Test starting Wednesday.
Lack of preparation: India came into the ODI series without any preparation and it showed in the results. R Ashwin conceded that he was treating the third ODI in Centurion as Test preparation. Ray Jennings, former South African coach and the man in charge of Royal Challengers Bangalore, feels India should have looked to squeeze out some more time for practice. "The conditions are far too different...It's difficult to get adjusted to the pace and bounce. I am a little worried how they will cope up against this South African attack," Jennings told TOI.
The only two-day practice game that was scheduled in Benoni also was abandoned and Jennings feels it will be a cause of worry for the Indian team. "The Test experts who have flown in are going into the first Test without any match-practice...It's not a good sign," Jennings said.
Top-order frailties: The Indian top-six looked all at sea during the ODIs. There was the urgency to go for the shots early on and that brought about the downfall of the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. M Vijay, too, has similar habits, and he said that he is consciously trying to curb his instinct of going for too many shots early on. "I am disappointed at the way this Indian batting line-up has performed till now...It's all about giving yourself some time in the middle and then go for the shots. I would have expected them to do well on these conditions, where the ball comes to the bat," former South African opener Herschelle Gibbs said.
Another former South African captain Kepler Wessels feels the Indian players' technique against the short ball will be tested right through the series. "It's about how well you are able to drop your wrists against the rising ball. The likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are going to test them in Wanderers, even though Kingsmead might be a bit more to their liking," Wessels said.
Lack of bite in bowling department: Jennings is a little worried at the way India gave away close to 300 runs in all the three ODIs. Ishant Sharma looked good in Centurion, but "the South African batsmen know how to play these guys on such pitches," Jennings said. According to the RCB coach, it could boil down to how Zaheer Khan bowls. "I don't know whether he is fully fit. And there's no point bowling at 125km/hr, he will be taken apart...It's important Zak hits the 135km/hr, then he can make a serious difference," Jennings said.
For the spinners, it's not the easiest tour and Ashwin has said that a lot will depend on how the pacers bowl. "Spinners will have to keep it tight, but it's difficult for them to run away with the game," Jennings said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment