India’s tour of South Africa is a month away, and the war of words has begun as AB De Villiers has warned the Indian batsmen about the hostile conditions in the rainbow nation. De Villiers is coming from a long layoff to international, and India’s tour will be his first major assignment since his return. Mr. 360 as he is widely known has targeted the Indian batting line up which has usually been vulnerable on pitches supporting pace and bounce.
The Indian team, on the other hand, has been preparing for the tour scheduled to begin from 5th January by having green pitches which support swing and bounce in the current series against Sri Lanka. This will be Virat Kohli’s first tour as a captain of the rainbow nation, and he is leaving no stone unturned to prepare for the tour.
Kohli and De Villiers are known to be close friends and share a great bond as the duo play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Earlier Sunil Gavaskar was recorded saying that India will beat South Africa in the Test series, but it seems like this statement didn’t go well with the South African contingent.
De Villiers said that the Indian batting should be wary of the South African bowling department:
“It might help them but India has got to remember that they won’t face the same bowlers.”
With the war of words already taking centre stage, it will be interesting to see how Kohli responds one of his closest friends in the cricketing world.