Sachin Tendulkar has been a part of India’s five Test tours (1992, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2010) of South Africa and notched five Test centuries on the South African soil. So, the 48-year old former Indian batsman knows what is needed to succeed against South Africa in the challenging conditions and now he has come up with a precious advice for the Indian batters ahead of their three-match Test series scheduled to start on December 26.
"I've always said, front foot defense is important. Up front, front foot defence is important. And that front foot defence is going to count here. The first 25 overs, front foot defence is going to be critical," Tendulkar told in an interview.
Tendulkar further added that a batter starts to lose control when his hands start going away from his body.
"The hands were not going away from the body. When your hands start going away from your body; that is when you start losing control slowly, but surely. And the beauty was their hands were not going away," he said.
Tendulkar described how the batsmen can work on the subtle things and can manage to stay long at the wicket. Indian batsmen- Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul’s success in England, where both batters scored a century, gave Indian team a solid boost in the Test series against the English side.
Tendulkar pointed out that the key to batting is exhibiting patience and the Indian openers exactly did that during the Test series in England.
"They got beaten on occasion and that's fine. Every batter gets beaten. Bowlers are there to pick wickets, so that's okay. But when your hands start going away from your body, that is when you are likely to edge the ball," added Tendulkar.
"The reason for them continuing to bat was because their hands were close to their body. And that was the major difference between the earlier partnerships which were unsuccessful and the last tour of England where the openers really did a fabulous job."
Indian team are keen to win their first Test series in South Africa. They will face the Proteas in the opening game at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The second test match is slated to start in Johannesburg on January 3 and the Test series will come to an end with the third match in Cape Town from January 11 to January 15.
When India team last time toured South Africa they did lose the Test series but managed to secure a terrific victory in the final Test match in Johannesburg by 63 runs.
