Home
India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has expressed the team's need to learn crucial lessons from their rare home series defeat against New Zealand last year. The coach's focus is on preparing the Indian batters to effectively counter a formidable, spin-heavy South African attack as the hosts gear up for the upcoming two-Test series, which begins on November 14. Doeschate openly admitted that facing the Proteas, who possess such a potent spin unit, feels akin to competing against a subcontinent team, stressing that India's negotiation skills against quality tweakers must improve.
Ryan Ten Doeschate wants India batters to learn from New Zealand series to counter SA's spin threat
The concern over South Africa's spinning prowess is well-founded, given their recent performances. In their last Test series in Pakistan, the Proteas' spin quartet—comprising Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Senuran Muthusamy, and Prenelan Subrayen, delivered exceptional results. This group of spinners collectively accounted for an impressive total of 35 wickets, playing a pivotal role in helping South Africa secure a 1-1 draw in the closely contested two-match series. India will need a strong batting strategy to subdue this threat on their home pitches.
ALSO READ: Big News: Star player released from India's squad for Test series against South Africa, know why
"They have got four (three specialist) spinners at their disposal. Most likely they will play three and it is a little bit like playing against a subcontinent team," Ten Doeschate said at the pre-match press conference.
Proteas' formidable spin quartet
The visiting Proteas squad has arrived with a notably balanced attack, capable of challenging India's batters with both pace and spin. Leading the fast-bowling charge will be the formidable duo of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen. However, the real threat is posed by their spin department, which features three specialist spinners: Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, and Senuran Muthusamy. The effectiveness of this spin trio was recently highlighted by their combined performance in the last two-Test series in Pakistan.
In that series against Pakistan, the three specialist spinners were instrumental, sharing a remarkable 33 wickets among them across just two Test matches. Simon Harmer led the charge with 13 wickets, closely followed by Senuran Muthusamy with 11, and Keshav Maharaj contributing 9 wickets. Muthusamy, in particular, proved to be a genuine all-round threat, not only taking 11 wickets but also scoring 106 crucial runs with the bat, which earned him the prestigious Player of the Series award. This multi-faceted threat underscores why the Indian team is seriously addressing the challenge posed by South Africa's spin attack.
"You normally worry about the pace attack first and I am pretty sure they will go with two seamers and three if not four spinners. But that is also the challenge when you are playing in the subcontinent. Something as a team that we need to get better at. We addressed it early on. We have come up short a few times. So it is a great challenge."
"Hopefully we have learned from the New Zealand series. We have put some plans into place against how to play the spin. It is going to be so important over these two games. Particularly how well they did in Pakistan about four weeks ago," he concluded.
Exactly one year ago, India suffered an unprecedented 0-3 home series defeat against New Zealand. This shocking result marked a big failure for the Indian batting lineup on pitches typically considered their stronghold. The collapse was overwhelmingly attributed to the performance of the Kiwi spinners. In that series, New Zealand's spin trio proved to be devastatingly effective. Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner, and Glenn Phillips collectively took a massive 36 wickets, entirely dismantling the Indian batting order. Patel led the way with 15 wickets, Santner claimed 13, and Phillips chipped in with 8 wickets.
However, the Gill's brigade will look to make amends and come out all guns blazing in the upcoming Test series against South Africa.
Updated India's Test squad for SA series:
Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper/vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep
South Africa’s Test squad for India series:
Temba Bavuma (captain), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton (wicket-keeper), Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper)
ADVERTISEMENT
