England vs South Africa 2017: Struggling JP Duminy Dropped For Second Test
Jul 14, 2017 at 11:50 AM
South Africa have dropped out-of-form JP Duminy for the second Test against England at Trent Bridge, starting on Friday (July 14).
The left-handed batsman had looked out of sorts in the longest format of the game for quite some time now and did little in the first Test to retain his place in the playing eleven. After managing just 104 runs in the last three Tests, Duminy scored 15 and two in the series opener at Lord’s.
Captain Faf du Plessis, who had missed the Test match Lord’s because of the birth of his first child, had hinted that Duminy was likely to make way for him and confirmed the news in his pre-match conference. Du Plessis, while calling Duminy a ‘great team man’, said that the southpaw took the decision in his stride.
“He’s taken it very well,” said du Plessis. “If we were to take a picture of what it means to be a team player, he leads that every day. He’s a great team man, that’s why you want him to do well. He’s possibly been given a longer run because you know what he presents and how he helps out with the team away from the runs. He’s been the first to acknowledge that his performances have not stacked up – certainly not what we need from a No. 4 batsman.”
Duminy, who skipped this year’s Indian Premier League to take some time off from cricket, has struggled to live up to the expectations at number four, averaging just 34 in 12 Tests.
Du Plessis further hoped that newcomers Theunis de Bruyn and Aiden Markram would start performing just like they have done in domestic cricket which helped them to earn a call from the national side.
“Theunis de Bruyn and Aiden Markram certainly look like they have the goods, they’ve got big runs behind their names in domestic cricket and that’s what Test cricket is all about – the ability to score big,” said du Plessis. “To score 150-plus and get your average up into the high 40s, that shows consistency. If you can do that, you should be okay in Test cricket.
“It’s nice having them here to get a feeling for what Test cricket is all about, the challenges, the pressures, how guys react to it, how Hashim Amla prepares. (Amla) doesn’t have the runs he’d like, but there’s great learning in watching how he prepares for young guys so they can take their games to the next level,” he said.
South Africa’s batsmen had not enjoyed the best of outings in the second innings of Lord’s Test, getting folded up for just 119 but would look turn it around with their skipper back in the team. The captain, meanwhile, also confirmed that Duanne Olivier would replace the suspended Kagiso Rabada in the upcoming match.
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