Pitch ‘won’t scare India’
PHILANDER PLAYS DOWN TALK OF GREEN MAMBA WICKET SA ponder picking only three frontline seamers for opener.
Proteas paceman Vernon Philander played down talk of a green mamba pitch being in play for the first Test against India starting tomorrow, suggesting that Newlands is more likely to provide a quasi-greentop.
While the amount of grass still on the pitch two days before the game had visiting journalists re- membering back to 1996/97 when India were bundled out for 100 and 66 in the first Test of the series played at Kingsmead in Durban, Newlands is unlikely to provide a surface quite so venomous as the famous KwaZulu-Natal pitches.
Philander, who calls Newlands his home ground and has taken 38 wickets in seven Tests there, added, however, that it didn’t look too different from the pitches used in the famous 2011/12 and 2012/13 matches against Australia and New Zealand, in which the opposition were shot out for 47 and 45 respectively.
“There’s a little bit of grass but it’s not the greenest pitch I’ve seen here, and some wickets with grass have not done as much here, so I don’t think it will scare India. Those previous pitches looked a bit flatter and with hot weather today and expected tomorrow, the grass will be drier. The pitch changes quickly here and a lot depends on the wind.
“This pitch can have grass and still be absolutely flat, but if the north-westerly is blowing then it will go around. But we are still two days out and we know that we are going to have our work cut out, but our mindset is to be taking wickets. We’ve got the combination to take 20 wickets and the plan of how to go about that,” Philander said at Newlands yesterday.
The 32-year-old suggested that South Africa were leaning towards playing three frontline seamers and a spinner, in lieu of the four fast bowler barrage pre- dicted in some quarters.
“Three seamers and one spinner has worked very well for us over the last 18 months and Keshav Maharaj has settled in well bowling with the seamers and has bowled really well. He’s a worldclass spinner who has an awesome record over the last 24 months,” Philander said.
Philander’s absence from several Tests in that period due to injury gave birth to some concerns over his general fitness, but the all-rounder is clearly raring to go in 2018 with huge Tests against India and Australia lying ahead.
“I want to play my best cricket, win every series and be the best possible player I can be. I want to deliver on a regular basis this year,” Philander added.