Visakhapatnam: South African captain Faf du Plessis has ‘learnt’ his lessons from the disastrous tour of India four years ago and hopes the team’s young members will emerge as improved cricketers after the current series, beginning with the first Test here, Wednesday.
South Africa had no answer to the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, losing the four-match series 0-3. Faf du Plessis himself had a tough time, scoring just 60 runs in seven innings.
“What Test cricket in general does to you is if there is a flaw in your game, it exposes it. Obviously last time we came here as a batting unit and personally I found it difficult in tough conditions. The fact is that I needed to get better from a defensive and technical point of view to adapt to play in tough conditions,” Du Plessis told reporters here on the eve of the first Test.
Faf du Plessis is among the five squad members who had toured India in 2015. The other four are Kagiso Rabada, Dean Elgar, Temba Bavuma and Vernon Philander who played just one Test before getting injured.
“It was tough for everyone, but it was huge value for me. After that I started playing spin better. So I think all players have to go through tough times to make them better and understand where their potential weaknesses are. And then either you can disappear or come back stronger,” the South African skipper added.
It is a fresh bunch of players helped by an Indian in Amol Muzumdar, who is South Africa’s batting coach for the Test series. Time is limited but du Plessis said getting local help can only benefit the team.
“It is a different language, different mindset and it is really refreshing to have someone with local knowledge. He (Muzumdar) has been with us for a short time and we already have had some good conversations,” Du Plessis said.
Last time we struggled despite having an experienced line-up and now we have a young looking line up, so there is no baggage. These youngsters are motivated to do well in international cricket and this tour will be no different for them,” Du Plessis pointed out.
The series against India will be South Africa’s first in the World Test Championship. Following a disappointing World Cup campaign, the team are back on the road and also play England and Australia in the next six months. Du Plessis is looking forward to the challenge.
“It is a good time to be involved with a young team. A lot of senior players are out and leadership group has changed completely. It is time to grow new leaders, the next set of pacers, the next Hashim Amla. I am excited about that,” Du Plessis told reporters.
With Vernon Philander amongst the runs in the warm-up game, South Africa may look at playing five bowlers for the first Test.
“That is definitely one of the options. India has always been a place where you can score in the first innings but in the second innings, it can get challenging and you need ample bowling resources for the first innings. You need more than three or four bowlers. Generally taking 20 wickets wins you Test matches,” asserted the South African skipper.
PTI