Ahead of first India vs South Africa Test in Cape Town on January 5, Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is pretty confident about the performances of the spin duo — Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The Mumbai lad believes that the spin brigade has all the potential to change their bowling style that suits the Protea conditions.
As reported by PTI, in an interview to an Indian news channel, Rahane assured a good performance from the spinners and said,
“They [Ashwin and Jadeja] are doing really well at the moment. I am sure they are capable of doing well abroad as well. Yes, they have to change their style a bit, skills a bit, have to bowl at a different pace but I completely believe and I am confident that whoever plays or even if both of them play, they will do well.”
Citing the examples of Moeen Ali and Nathan Lyon, Rahane differentiated the home and away pitch conditions and said,
“If you see the likes of Moeen Ali, Nathan Lyon if they are playing in England, Australia they have to bowl in a different style. Similarly, when you play in India you have to bowl in a certain way. I feel Ashwin and Jadeja, they both have it in them to deliver in South Africa.”
Rahane has been struggling in longer-format games for quite a long time now. He scored a century against Sri Lanka in the month of August after which his bat has failed to do the talking. He scored 94 runs in two first-class while terribly failed to perform in the last Test series of 2017 against Sri Lanka at home. He could only score 17 runs in 5 innings he batted against the Lankans. However, he has managed to get another chance in the forthcoming Freedom series against the Proteas.
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In another interview to Times of India, Rahane opened up about his bad patch and stated that he has learned a lot. He said,
“This phase taught me a lot, both on and off the field. Right now I’m trying to remind myself of the process which I used to follow when the things were going my way. I’ve been consulting with many of seniors. They always shared with me that there’s nobody who has not tasted failure. The challenge is how you overcome.”
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The upcoming series is going to be a tough challenge for the Indian players. A 17-member Indian squad has arrived at Johannesburg on December 29 and will be playing a few practice games before the first match.
