Tactics to turn as Proteas try out spin trio
THE Proteas kick off their 72-day trek across India today, as they tackle a Board President’s XI in their only warm-up match before the T20 international series begins on Friday.
Today’s T20 tune-up, to be played in Delhi, is skipper Faf du Plessis’s only opportunity then to fiddle about with any combinations he may still be unsure of, with the WorldTwenty20 rapidly approaching.
That tournament will be held in the same country in March next year, and so the three-match T20 series has added significance. Indeed, without taking anything away from the four-test Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela Series that will round up South Africa’s extended stay in India, the T20 fact-finding mission is probably the most important part of the tour.
The selectors, led by Linda Zondi, have already made a few interesting calls, with the elevation of Eddie Leie as the second spinner ahead of Aaron Phangiso perhaps the most interesting. Du Plessis, pictured, has maintained that he sees spin as a weapon, and not the defence that many of his predecessors before him have always viewed slow bowlers as.
In Leie, the young Lions leg-spinner, he has a second wrist spinner, almost unheard of in South African cricket. Zondi explained that Leie got the nod ahead of his Lions’ stablemate Phangiso because they would like a closer look at what he can do in those conditions, so one can expect him to play in at least a few games while he is with the squad.
With Imran Tahir firmly established as South Africa’s trump-card in “white-ball” cricket, and JP Duminy fulfilling the all-important all-rounder slot, the Proteas may see the bulk of their overs bowled by spinners.
It is an interesting change of strategy, but one that has been necessitated by a number of factors. Tahir’s own success has proved that spin can be every bit as devastating as speed, and South Africa’s inability to close out tight matches with the ball has also encouraged them to look at another option.
Some of the pacemen in the squad have a mandatory “back of a length” preference, which is fine on pitches with pace, but can be cannon-fodder to “set” batsmen on unresponsive tracks, which will be the norm in India.
The onus, then, falls on the spinners to give Du Plessis a new dimension, and Messrs Tahir, Leie and Duminy will be looking to give India a taste of their medicine. Should they succeed, it will give the new clutch of selectors a tricky task come decision time for the World Cup.
Do they go back to speed, and hope to blast out all-comers next year? Or, do they move with the times, and embrace the mystery of the twirling ball? Every major side has at least two decent spinners in every T20 international and, in the anticipated run-fest at the World Twenty20, the surfaces will offer precious little for seamers to get excited about.
But, for that change of thinking to happen, Leie in particular will have to show that he can work in tandem with Tahir, and provide equal parts confusion and control.
The Proteas have been joined by former Australian middle-order ace Mike Hussey, who will be a batting consultant for the duration of the T20 international series. Hussey previously worked with the Proteas at the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, earlier this year.
“I’ve played a lot of cricket with Mike in the IPL with Chennai, and he has a great cricket mind. He has done it all in cricket, and we are very lucky to have him,” T20 skipper Du Plessis said of the batting guru.