Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Proteas look to unleash the fast and the furious
Full battery of pacemen available for first India Test, but who to leave out? A series win in SA will add to Kohli’s ‘superstar’ status
SOUTH AFRICA are ready to unleash their full artillery of fast bowlers in the much-anticipated series opener against India at Newlands next week.
Having had various pacemen in recovery and rehabilitation over the past two years, the selectors have finally been able to call on all the country’s frontline fast men.
Dale Steyn, who is still five wickets shy of passing Shaun Pollock’s all-time national record of 421 Test scalps, was included after missing the two-day rout of Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth this week due to a viral infection.
All-rounder Chris Morris is also back in the 15-member squad after recovering from a recent groin injury.
Morris has not played international cricket throughout the home summer after a back injury sustained on the England tour forced him to miss the Bangladesh series. He returned in the RamSlam T20 Challenge, but was struck down again in the final after claiming 4/13 to help propel the Titans to the title.
The major concern for the Proteas, though, is how they are going to fit all their fast bowlers into the starting line-up.
Morné Morkel was the standout at St George’s Park with the lanky fast bowler bagging his first “fivefor” in five years, while Vernon Philander’s record at Newlands is remarkable.
Equally, Kagiso Rabada was the Proteas’ chief destroyer in 2017 and all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo recorded match figures of 5/25 in PE.
“It comes down to the conditions on the day. That will determine the selection,” national convener of selectors Linda Zondi told Independent Media.
“We have options and we would rather want to be in this situation (rather than not have options). The all-rounders are different as Morris brings experience and raw pace. Andile is young and has shown lots of control.
“Dale didn’t play in PE too but he is a world-class bowler. The conditions will dictate whether we go with a four-man pace attack, the all-rounder or six or seven batsmen. It is a good situation to be in.”
South Africa have also opted not to include a specialist wicketkeeper as cover for the currently injured Quinton de Kock.
AB de Villiers was forced to keep wicket in his return match after De Kock limped off with a hamstring strain while batting this week.
It is expected that De Kock will be fit for Newlands, but it may still be a gamble ahead of such a crucial encounter. De Villiers indicated he would not like to take the gloves long term as it hampers his batting, but was open to a discussion on the matter if a stop-gap solution was required.
Should De Kock be ruled out, and De Villiers does indeed take the gloves, it would solve another issue for the selectors as captain Faf du Plessis has to return to the line-up too.
“I think Quinton should be ready. It is only a Grade 1 strain,” Zondi said.
“Obviously we do not want AB to keep and we do have options for a second wicketkeeper but there is a definitely a discussion to be had if it’s just a once-off situation.”
There are many who are concerned with the Proteas’ workload ahead of the India series, with the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe having lasted only two days. The bowlers had a good workout by bowling close to 80 overs, but the batsmen only had one innings.
Stand- in captain De Villiers opted to enforce the follow- on instead of choosing to bat a second time. Zondi admits he would have liked to see the batsmen have some extra time in the middle, but does believe the team is making progress in a few crucial positions.
“It was disappointing that it lasted just two days, but we’ve spoken a lot about the team being ruthless when playing weaker opposition. And that’s exactly how they were.
“I think the major positive to come out of the last couple of series is the opening partnership. I know it is only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, but that laaitie (Aiden) Markram is really showing great maturity. He and Dean (Elgar) have developed a good understanding and he just continues to score hundreds, so that’s a real positive for the team,” Zondi added. ROGER FEDERER, Lebron James, Usain Bolt, Cristiano Ronaldo, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Virat Kohli. According to renowned American finance magazine, Forbes, those seven athletes were the most popular on the planet in 2017.
Forbes reckons Kohli
is more popular than Lionel Messi, Rory McIlroy, Neymar and Jordan Spieth. Forget for a moment the analytics used to measure such things – and given that Forbes have been doing it for years in different social spheres (including company brands and celebrities), you’d trust they know what they are doing – but that is a heck of an achievement for Kohli.
Unlike, football, golf, tennis or even basketball and specifically the NBA, cricket is hardly a sport with a wide global footprint.
The sport owes its popularity to the size of the population of India, and that country’s diaspora. That means that whoever is India’s best player will also be cricket’s most famous.
Kohli was one of four Indian cricketers included on American sports broadcaster ESPN’s list of the 100 most famous athletes in the world this year. On that list he was ranked at 13, again higher than some household global names including Spieth, McIlroy and Serena Williams.
The 29-year-old, who is captaining an Indian side that firmly believes it can become the first to win a Test series in South Africa, has also arrived on the international sporting scene at just the right time as far as being able to take advantage of the fame that now follows sportsmen – or virtually anyone who knows how to effectively utilise social media.
Just recently, Duff & Phelps, a global financial valuation and international corporate adviser, rated Kohli as India’s most valuable brand, ahead of Bollywood performing legend Shah Rukh Khan. Duff & Phelps estimated Kohli’s “celebrity value” at $143-million.
How has a cricketer been able to elevate himself into such lofty status? In the case of Kohli it’s a combination of many factors. At the core though, is his phenomenal batting talent.
When Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013 many wondered how long it would be before we’d witness someone who’d come close to matching his standing in the game.
Kohli’s still got a hell of a long way to go to get close to Tendulkar’s statistics – even though after the same number of Tests, 63, he’s ahead of the “little master” by 517 runs.
And while Tendulkar, even four years since retiring, remains somewhat of a deity in India, Kohli is outstripping him in terms of endorsements and fame.
The duo emerged at different times as far as India’s social standing in the world was concerned.
There was an oft-utilised comparison between Tendulkar and another former India batting great Sunil Gavaskar – the comparison could be summed up in an old remark about the two – “Sunny saved India, Sachin made India win”.
Tendulkar made India believe it could compete with Australia, England and a thenstill- very- good West Indies. Kohli doesn’t just want to compete, he genuinely believes India can win in South Africa, in England and in Australia, all tours he is leading the Indian team on in the next 15 months. Those series will come to define Indian cricket, and specifically Kohli.
Since Tendulkar’s retirement he’s rapidly assumed the mantle as India’s “top dog” but he’s done so in a manner that is a great deal different from how Tendulkar used to do things.
In fact Kohli has borrowed more from Sourav Ganguly’s personality than from Tendulkar’s. Ganguly never took a backward step and was fairly calculated in how he sought to get under the opposition’s skin.
Kohli does that and more, showing greater aggression than his predecessors, not just in terms of his playing style, but his on-field personality too. It’s an element that is reflective of India’s society at large, that is seeking to make its mark on the global stage.
That the country’s biggest sportsman, should thus be orbiting in a space with the planet’s biggest sports stars, is thus no surprise.
South Africans can’t conceive of its sportsmen holding such exalted status as is the case with Kohli and even other stars of the game in India.
Right now, in terms of global recognition, Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya are this country’s best-known sports stars, but even they can’t command Kohli’s status.
As for cricket, it’s only AB de Villiers, that can be held in the same bracket as Kohli, and while De Villiers’ popularity in India is enormous, from a global perspective he doesn’t lace Kohli’s boots.
The last time South African sports enthusiasts could feel the warmth from the glow of genuine world star was when Rory McIlroy played the SA Open golf tournament in Johannesburg last January.
Because the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Woods and Federer don’t come to these shores often to compete – and if they do it’s usually in an exhibition sense – spectators in this country are largely unable to view a genuine global superstar up close, competing hard.
Kohli provides South Africans with that opportunity.
This tour by his Indian team holds huge historical significance for him in particular.
Win here, and he can start to elevate his status even further ahead of Tendulkar, Gavaskar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni as greats of the sport in his country.
Winning here, will also do his global standing no harm either.
“With tours of South Africa, Australia and England coming up in the next year and a half, all I can say is this will be a better cricket team after those 18 months,” Shastri told reporters before leaving India.
“I think, like Virat (Kohli) said, all the guys are looking forward to the tour. You know it’s going to be a challenge, we all know, how tough a tour South Africa is but that’s the beauty of cricket, wanting challenges and embracing it.
“We toured Australia three years ago, and we did a pretty good job. We also toured Sri Lanka in 2015, had some great tracks, especially the last two Test matches, where the ball seamed and swung.
“So we are prepared. These boys have been on the road together for the last four to five years so that should help in a big way.” – ANA