Urgent need for tactical savvy
COLOMBO: It doesn’t matter whether its cricket, rugby or even billiards, but there are not many times a South African will willingly support Australia. At the R Premadasa Stadium today, though, they will have no choice as the Aussies hold the Proteas’ ICC World Twenty20 fate in their hands.
Only a victory for Australia over Pakistan in the first Super Eight Group Two match of the day will give meaning to South Africa clash with India.
The Indians, too, require a Pakistan defeat for their continued participation in this tournament. A win for Mohammad Hafeez’s side will render all net run-rate scenarios meaningless as the Pakistanis will qualify for the semi-finals along with Australia, regardless of the outcome of the late game.
South Africa find themselves in this precarious situation due to consecutive implosions to Pakistan and Australia at the weekend. It was not just a case of their basic playing skills deserting them at times, but also showed a severe lack of tactical nous. The strategies were muddled and selections even more bizarre, which did not fill the side with any degree of confidence.
Opener Richard Levi has suffered the most as a result. It does not take a nuclear physicist to decipher that Levi has technical problems, especially against spin bowling, but the young Capetonian has suffered more due to being caught between playing his instinctive all-out attacking game and a more conservative approach.
As a result, he will in all likelihood lose his place to Faf du Plessis for the India game.
“If something doesn’t click in your team, it is always a cause for concern, but you’ve got to trust players and you’ve got to back them and believe in them,” Proteas coach Gary Kirsten said at his team’s training session yesterday. “There is a chance that Faf will play. We haven’t finalised the team yet, but he’s very much in the mix.”
Wayne Parnell is another who should expect to be back on drinks duty. The young Warriors left-armer had a game to forget against Australia as he dropped a crucial catch, was sloppy in his fielding on the boundary and bowled just two overs for 24 runs. Albie Morkel should return after missing the Australia match.
But regardless of personnel changes, and even if the result does go their way in the early match, South Africa will need to lift their performance considerably to beat what will be an equally desperate Indian team. Fortunately for the Proteas, there are few who know the psyche of the Indians better than Kirsten and his ally Paddy Upton. The duo will forever be revered in India for steering the Asian giants to the No 1 Test ranking and the World Cup title last year.
Kirsten tried to play down this fact yesterday, but there are young players in the Indian dressingroom, like Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, who still regard the former Proteas opener as their “guru”.
Kohli, in particular, grew in immense stature under Kirsten’s guidance and has matured into a phenomenal batsman, especially in limitedovers cricket. He has been particularly good in this tournament thus far, displaying his full repertoire of classy strokes in the adrenalin-charged clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday when he stroked his way to an unbeaten 78.
The 23-year-old’s strength lies in the fact that he plays good cricket shots, with the lofted drive over extra cover a speciality. He does not simply swing baseball-style to accumulate his runs. Kirsten acknowledged the danger his former protégé poses today.
“(Kohli) is a great player, and we have always known that. He is probably one of the stand-out batsmen in the world at the moment, and we all know what he is capable of doing,” the Proteas coach said. “He is one of those X-factor cricketers that other teams want to get out because he is not going to get out himself. He doesn’t throw his wicket away.”
Kirsten may not have said as much yesterday, but how he must want a player with Kohli’s qualities. Truth be told, though, he does have, if not better, in the form of his captain, AB de Villiers. But just like Kohli walks in at No 3 for India, so too must De Villiers in order to dictate the game.
South Africa may do that today, but like the playing XI have failed to grasp opportunities out in the middle, so too has the Proteas brainstrust failed in their strategic thinking. That’s why Proteas fans now have to suffer the indignity of screaming for Australia.
The scorecards of yesterday’s final Group One matches – West Indies v New Zealand and Sri Lanka v England – appear on page 22.