Cape Town: Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener reckons that Hardik Pandya has all the ingredients for an all-round cricketer for India.
Pandya struck a gritty 93 in the first innings of the lost Test match in Cape Town and sent back both Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram on the second day itself to keep India in the hunt.
“I thought his knock in India’s first innings was fantastic. His batting was excellent in the way he reversed pressure and put it back on South Africa. He is going to be fantastic for India. He is still developing and I think if he could add another yard of pace to his bowling, he would become a truly amazing all-rounder,” Klusener said.
Ever since he made his debut in early 2016, he has been an asset for the team and has been improving with every game, which has thus made him a regular in the national team. He has been an useful addition to the Indian team in limited overs’ cricket and has proven his mettle in Test cricket too, with a hundred and two fifties.
“”All the signs are there that he is developing into a fantastic all-round prospect. Sure, he is bound to fail a few times the way he plays, but it is better to encourage that positive approach than reel him in.
“So, he is in good company, whether he plays for Mumbai Indians in IPL or in this Indian team, he is surrounded by a lot of good people. It is their responsibility to nurture him,” he further added.
Despite having bowled out the hosts for just 130 runs on the fourth day thus setting a 208-run target, India were unable to cross the line and fell short in the end by 72 runs.
A thing to be kept in mind is that Virat Kohli and co opted out of the practice game and Klusener didn’t quite agree with this move.
“Look, it is always good to have a practice game under your belt. If India were touring in the sub-continent, then it wouldn’t be the end-of-the-world if they didn’t play a practice game before the tour. But for them to come to South Africa, it would have been nice for them to have the practice game in foreign conditions.
“If the shoe was on the other foot, and South Africa were touring India, they would have played at least one practice game to get used to sub-continental conditions,” said Klusener.
He however felt that India had a lot to learn from the defeat in Cape Town.
“India can take a lot of learning from that first Test loss. It could have been a lot worse to be honest if Pandya didn’t play that excellent knock and scored those 90-odd runs. I think that is a learning point for India in how they can turn this around. They need to be pro-active and take the pacers’ challenge head on,” opined the Man of the tournament of the 1999 World Cup.
In the absence of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander led from the front and decimated India completely, registering his best figures in Test cricket (6/42) in the process. Although Steyn would be out for the entire series, South African coach Ottis Gibson made it clear that tougher challenges await the Indians in both Centurion and Wanderers.
“You expect to be battered with pace when you come to South Africa. Look at their team selection – they played four pacers – that in itself is a message from the Proteas. It was always going to be a challenge for India especially after they had just played Sri Lanka.
“That series went by in home conditions without the Indian batsmen playing any real fast bowling. Yes, they fought hard in this Test but lost chasing a small total, and this should be extremely disappointing for them,” said Klusener.
He also had words of praise for the Indian bowling attack.
“When you compare them to South Africa’s pace attack, they do lack a bit of pace, bowling in the mid-130s. But what I found remarkable was that they immediately hit the perfect length for South African conditions. It was similar to the lengths Philander was bowling.
“In the past, we have seen Indian pacers come here and get carried away with bounce and carry. This time they have obviously spoken about bowling fuller lengths and it was excellent to see them executing their plans very well,” he explained.
Klusener also had suggested some tips when asked as to how to counter someone like a Philander.
He said, “To a bowler of that pace, you have to stand out of the crease and force him to alter his lengths.
“You need to stand at least half a meter outside the crease, if not a full meter, and force Vernon Philander to bowl shorter lengths at you. You have to take the game to him and be proactive. If you stay in your crease and try to play him, you will be in trouble all day.”
Out of a total of 18 Test matches played in South Africa, India have been able to win only two so far and thus to win the series being 1-0 down would take a huge effort from Virat Kohli and his men.
“I will be honest with you. I don’t see India winning this Test series. I don’t see them winning two Tests on the bounce. Maybe they can win and draw. Coming from 1-0 down, 1-1 will be a good result for them. But to do that, they need to work to a plan,” said Klusener, who now is the batting coach of the Zimbabwe team.
He signed off saying, “South Africa are a good team with good pacers. India’s only chance is if they can get a big score on the board.”