Surprised to hear South Africa can't pick India's wrist spinners: Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly recently praised the Indian team for their impressive show in the ODI series against South Africa. He remarked that the Men in Blue are playing terrific cricket at the moment. One of the few concerns they have had thus far in the ODI series is the form of their opener Rohit Sharma. Ganguly, in his opinion, feels that there is nothing much to worry about him.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan had also backed Rohit to come good in the remaining fixtures. As per the quotes in the India Today, Sourav Ganguly feels that if Rohit plays well in the 3rd ODI, then India are sure to win the series. “India are looking terrific. Not too worried about Rohit Sharma – he needs to play himself in, he needs to get through the new ball, if he plays well tomorrow, the series is ours,” Sourav Ganguly quoted.

Speaking further on the same note, Sourav remarked that the Indian side has done very well after having lost the Test series. He feels that the belief among the players that they can beat South Africa in their own den is something that is pumping up the players. He further mentioned that unless the South African players figure out a way to play against the Indian wrist spinners, they will continue to struggle.

The Indian spinners – Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav – have scalped 13 wickets together in the two ODIs played thus far. Sourav Ganguly also expressed his amusement at the fact that the Proteas batsmen are failing to read the wrist spinners. Even they have a very quality wrist spinner in Imran Tahir. Despite that, they have failed to succeed against the Indian wrist spinners.

“India have done well after the Test series – they believe they can beat South Africa which is important – India played South Africa in Johannesburg when they were full strength. Unless South Africa play cleverly and take the spinners out of the game, they will find it very difficult to come back into the series,” said the former Indian captain.

“Surprised to hear South Africa can’t pick India’s wrist spinners because they play Tahir in the nets. Don’t see that as an issue. If you look at the shots of Marakram and de Kock, they played poor shots to get out. It’s in the head rather than, They need to make some minor changes in the line-up squad,” he added.

South African batting coach hopes of an improved show

Meanwhile, the South African batting coach has quipped that the players will certainly come up with a better show in the matches to follow. He remarked that not a lot of players in the side have played against quality wrist spinners. Hence, it is obviously tough for them to get going against Kuldeep and Chahal.

“The tough thing is you are playing against two wrist spinners, and not a lot of players have played against. It does take time to get used to their change-ups and their variations. We’ve had a good look at them in the two games (so far) and I’m sure our performances will improve as the series goes on,” Benkenstein quoted.

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