SA vs IND: Mark Boucher warns Indian team ahead of third Test

Mark Boucher, one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen to have played the game is known to be brutally honest while giving tips to young players. Boucher’s career ended on 999 dismissals due to an eye injury. He told where Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team went wrong and why the third Test starting at the Wanderers on January 24 could be its toughest assignment.

Boucher answered a few questions on India’s overconfidence, Ajinkya Rahane’s exclusion, India’s batting, India’s slip catching with focus on Virat Kohli’s batting and captaincy. Boucher recalled the time when Virat Kohli played alongside him in the Indian Premier League for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The former Protean wicketkeeper compared India’s approach with South Africa in the ongoing series.

Where did it go wrong?

The 41-year-old believes that India has some fantastic batsmen in their lineup but the fact that they are not suited to conditions in South Africa is hurting the hosts. He believes that Indian batsmen are not familiar with this kind of bounce and movement, “They aren’t used to seeing this amount of movement and playing long innings”, he said to Hindustan Times.

According to him, the South Africans have tall bowlers which helped them to extract bounce from the wicket whereas India only had two tall bowlers which didn’t cause much trouble to the South African batsmen who are well known to these conditions. The Titans coach focused on India’s slip catching, he told about the wrong angles that captain Kohli was using.

The ball comes to the slips a lot quicker in South Africa than in India, “A couple of balls, especially to left-handers when the bowlers come around the wicket, the first slip has to be tighter. In India, because the edges come a lot slowly, you have time to move”. Boucher thinks that India will learn these things only when they play more in South Africa but they did not learn quickly enough and are 2-0 down in the series.

Captain Kohli and Rahane’s exclusion

Boucher recalls the time when he played with Kohli at RCB. He talks about the intensity that Kohli wants from his players. “He plays at a very high intensity and expects that from the players as well. Maybe a couple of fielding positions here and there but Virat’s still learning. He is very young as a captain and hasn’t played a lot of cricket in South Africa”. He believes that captain Kohli will get better as he plays more in these alien conditions.

“I think so. I think he can play very well. Whether he can play in these conditions, we will be able to find out only when he plays. Players like Ajinkya have done the business. They have put the runs at some stage of their careers”. Boucher wants India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane to play the final test which is to be held at the Wanderers.

The pitch at the Wanderers will be green and it will be the quickest pitch of the series according to Boucher. “I think with the height of our bowlers, India’s batsmen have to work really hard to get their runs. There will be a few balls flying past their ears as well”. The third Test begins from 24th January.