India Tour of South-Africa – Daryll Cullinan’s wants LIVELY PITCHES: Former South Africa cricketer Cullinan feels that South Africa should focus on their bowling if they wish to continue their dominance against India at home. He has asked officials to prepare lively wickets to assist the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi. Follow IND vs SA live updates on InsideSport.IN
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INDIA’s Report Card: Test Series in South Africa
- Overall India has played 7 Test Series in South Africa & has never been succesful.
- 2010 Series was India’s beat performance – India managed drawing the 3 test series 1-1 under MS Dhoni.
- In 20 Test Matches in SA – India has only won 3 Test Matches, Lost 10 & have drawn 7
- In the last series in 2018, India lost the series 2-1
India Tour of South Africa: Daryll Cullinan’s advice to South Africa, ‘make lively wickets if you want to tame Indian batsman’
India has never beaten South Africa in South Africa in a test series. According to Cullinan the record can only be maintained if the home team prepares lively & very pacy wickets.
“On good, lively wickets, I think the Indian batting line-up will struggle against South Africa’s extra pace and bounce,” he told The Telegraph.
“The danger they (South Africa) have is a long tail and they are very reliant on their top order.
As for India, they’ve probably got the best depth at the moment in world cricket when it comes to their pace attack. So I think for both teams, where the wicket will support quicks, it will come down to their top six as to how well they bat,” he added.
India Tour of South Africa: Cullinan further stated that SA doesn’t have the batting firepower as compared to India who bats deep. A number of star batters like AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla have retired from Test cricket.
“South Africa’s batting has been a concern for quite a while. I think that’s more the reason why they should back their bowlers to win them the series,” he further stated.
“India then might have an advantage as they bat deep. Often in South Africa, if you’ve got useful players at Nos.7, 8 and 9, often those 50-60 runs coming from them make a difference in terms of the outcome of the series. And that’s where South Africa struggle, as they don’t really bat well at (Nos.) 8, 9, 10 and 11,” Cullinan told as quoted by The Telegraph.
- Ishant Sharma in SA- 20 wickets in 7 Tests
- Mohammed Shami in SA- 21 wickets in 5 Tests
- Ishant Sharma in SA- 14 wickets in 3 Tests
India Tour of South Africa: India have never won a Test series in South Africa since their first visit to the country. He asked the India batters to play on the front foot in the conditions and gave important tips for Virat Kohli & Co.
“The first thing they need to do is avoid playing from the crease, which a lot of subcontinent players tend to and get away with on their wickets,” Cullinan stressed.
“In South Africa, you’ve got to negate that bounce and when you need to get forward, just get forward. You can’t allow the ball that extra bit of carry and movement to find the outside edge. To tackle that in-between length (delivery), don’t sit back and play from the crease if you’re in doubt. If you’re unsure about whether you should go forward or back, rather get forward,” he stated further.
- Virat Kohli in SA- 558 runs in 5 Tests @55.8 average
- Ajinkya Rahane in SA- 266 runs in 3 Tests @53.2 average
- Cheteshwar Pujara in SA- 411 runs in 7 Tests @31.6 average
India Tour of South Africa: He also warned SA that a too good batting wicket might benefit India and the spinners on the last two days.
“Too good batting wickets may favour India in the end as their spinners can come into play on Days IV and V. But then, when you’ve got a captain (Dean Elgar) who’s an opening batsman, there’s always going to be some hesitation to leave something in the wicket. However, if South Africa are honest and brave enough, that’s the way they should go.”
Cullinan represented South Africa in 70 Tests and 138 ODIs and used to bat mostly at No.4.
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India Tour of South Africa: Daryll Cullinan’s advice to South Africa, ‘make lively wickets if you want to tame Indian batsman’
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