Former South African batsman Daryll Cullinan has said that the Proteas need to be far more aggressive against spin. Cullinan said that the visitors are perhaps, trying to read too much into the spin, and this has led to their collapse against the slower bowlers. AB De Villiers so far has been the most successful batsman for South Africa in the tests, and the primary reason behind that has been his aggressive intent.
“There are a lot of things on their minds. They look to be in fear of getting out. They have to overcome that fear and defend a lot better and rotate the strike,” said Cullinan. “Ravichandran Ashwin is a good bowler, but he is not Anil Kumble. I think they perhaps read too much into spin, read too much into pitches. They have to be a lot more confident in terms of their defence,” Cullinan added.
Cullinan was also quick to add that it was high time for Faf Du Plessis and Hashim Amla to step up and shoulder the responsibility. The ability to get on top of the spinners will depend a lot on the experience of Amla and Du Plessis. They have to support AB De Villiers. They desperately need to get some runs. If that starts to happen, everything will fall into place. The batting upfront is inexperienced and that’s why they need to get their batting order right,” he said.
He further stated that the in-form De Villiers should be elevated to the number 3 slot. “I think de Villiers should bat at one drop. It’s a huge disappointment for me that our big player is hiding in the middle order. He has got to lead the batting. Throughout his career, de Villiers has batted in the middle order, which is the easy option. In one-day cricket too, he bats too low.”
“In Tests, he floats at No. 4 or 5. His natural position should be No. 3. Unfortunately for South Africa, the best players are running scared and not prepared to take responsibility. He is the man in form; he is scoring runs and looking in extremely good touch,” Cullinan said.
“Du Plessis is not in form, so he should bat at No. 5. There’s no harm in playing Bavuma at No. 6 because he is a good player of spin. Duminy, if he doesn’t get runs now, his Test career is over. Duminy is a huge disappointment in Test cricket,” said Cullinan.