File photo of legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar© X (formerly Twitter)
Legendary South Africa cricket team fast bowler Allan Donald decoded the reason behind Sachin Tendulkar‘s tremendous form against the Proteas. While India batters have historically struggled in South Africa, Sachin has scored four Test centuries in five tours to the nation. “It’s not an easy place to combat. We see that daily in South Africa, the ball does nip around more than it does in Australia or England. If your footwork isn’t 100 percent then you are in trouble,” Donald told PTI in an exclusive interview.
“Only person I know who played us well was Tendulkar, who triggered (had a trigger movement) while batting in South Africa rather than stand on middle-stump. He pressed forward and left the ball amazingly well,” the former South Africa pacer further explained.
Donald also had some suggestions for Indian batters to improve their game.
“It’s an interesting phenomenon as it’s tough to bat. In Cape Town though, it will be a very good Test pitch. It will flatten out quickly, so you need to work very hard,” he said in the interview.
The Indian pace bowlers were not patient on a good bowling surface during the opening Test against South Africa, a virtue they will need in abundance on a batting paradise at Newlands, where spinners will have little role to play, reckoned legendary Allan Donald.
India lost the first Test by an innings and 32 runs after conceding 408 in the first innings on a spicy Centurion track that offered steep bounce and enough lateral movement.
“I know South Africa probably got the better of the conditions, no questions about that. They pitched the ball in a 5 and 5.5 meter area and gave it a chance to do something off the deck.
But what they did better than India…they were more patient in that area and even they used the short ball a little bit more in the second innings,” Donald, a fearsome pacer of his generation, decoded.
(With PTI inputs)
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