Kohli remains 2nd in Test rankings
Pacer says he is preparing for challenging conditions in South Africa
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Cape Town, Dec. 31: The extra bounce will be a welcome change but bowling with the red Kookaburra ball “will be a challenge” in the threematch Test series against South Africa, reckons India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
After a two- shift opening practice session on Saturday, the Indian team practiced indoors on Sunday due to wet and windy conditions at the Western Province Cricket Club.
The Indian pacers’ focus as of now has been on bowling multiple long spells, which they will need to bowl in the series starting with first Test at Newlands from January 5.
“The first thing that comes to the mind when you are touring South Africa is bouncy wickets. But that is no surety of what kind of pitch you would get in the game,” said Bhuvneshwar.
If it is about dealing with the bounce for batsmen, bowlers will have to make the adjustment for bowling with the Kookaburra.
“When it comes to batsmen there is the bounce factor. But that is a factor for the bowlers too. The Kookaburra is the toughest ball to bowl with. It does not do too much after 25- 30 overs, so these are the kind of situations we are trying to prepare for.”
The swing specialist said the pace attack has not yet gotten down to strategising for the game and the focus is on bowling long spells.
“We have not talked so far on the strategy. The focus is on the basics. May be a couple of days before the first Test, we will see how to strategise according to the batsman.
“On Saturday, we did two sessions to get into the Test mode. It is a sixhour day in a Test match so we bowled twice. We wanted to bowl as long as possible,” said Bhuvneshwar.
India have not won a Test series in South Africa but have been playing well over the last two years. Bhuvneshwar feels the current form give his team a good chance of improving its record in South Africa.
“Everyone is confident. We know there is a chance to win a series in South Africa but to be able to do that we know we have to give our best,” added Bhuvneshwar. not to use more than 87 litres of water each per day. Newlands has boreholewater supply but groundsman Evan Flint told ESPNcricinfo that things could get tricky.
“With the pitch, we’ve been able to carry on watering it as usual every day with borehole water. But the outfield, we’ve only watered it twice a week so it’s a little bit drier and maybe not as Dubai, Dec. 31: Virat Kohli remained in second spot behind Steve Smith while Alastair Cook jumped nine places to be eighth in the latest ICC Test rankings after his unbeaten double century in the ongoing Ashes.
A magnificent double century by Cook has helped him to finish the year inside the top 10 batsmen in Test rankings, which were released on Sunday following the conclusion of the Melbourne and Port Elizabeth Tests.
The 33- year- old lefthanded opener scored 244 in his side’s first innings score of 491. He will now start 2018 with South Africa’s seventh- ranked Hashim Amla firmly within his sights, who is 17 points ahead of the former England captain.
Cook had begun the year in 15th position, while he had entered the Ashes in 10th position.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith? s contributions of 76 and 102 not out has strengthened his position at the top of the table. England captain Joe Root
lush like it.
“The challenge is that we need to leave live grass on the wicket, thin grass, so that there is pace, but we want to make sure the ball doesn’t grip and turn. Ideally, what we need is a little bit of rain in the morning and then sun in the afternoon and I don’t know how many days we will get that for,” Flint said.
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would is the other batsman to improve his ranking, when he moved up one place to join his opposite number from New Zealand, Kane Williamson, fourth place.
Root and Williamson had started 2017 in third and fourth positions, respectively.
Australia opener David Warner is sixth, 24 points behind Root and Williamson, after his scores of 103 and 86 earned him 30 points. Warner had started 2017 in fifth position. in
The curator is still hopeful that he can prepare a hard bouncy track.
“Everybody is pretty clear on what they want. We have tweaked a few things in terms of trying to get fresh green grass and we are also working on getting the wicket hard, so we’re rolling it, but we have to keep the grass alive at the same time,” Flint said.