Indian batters need to fire if they want to win in South Africa.
Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman has highlighted a major area of concern for the Indian cricket team ahead of the three-match Test series in South Africa, starting on December 26.
He has pointed out that Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings in Kanpur, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Shubman Gill in the second innings in Mumbai threw away their wickets in a similar way during the recently concluded two-match Test series against New Zealand at home.
Ahead of Team India’s tour of South Africa later this month, Laxman has expressed concern over the pattern that is developing in India's batting line-up, saying it must not be repeated in the upcoming Test series and the batters must fire if Virat Kohli and his team want to win the series in South Africa.
Laxman said on the Star Sports show Follow the Blues: “It's very important not to repeat the same mistakes. If we saw the way Rahane got out in Kanpur, Pujara got out in Kanpur as well as in Mumbai, it's almost like a pattern that is developing. Even Shubman Gill, after settling down and throwing away his wicket. So I just believe it is about converting that start into a big score, which is very critical.”
With India fielding five specialist batters and probably an all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja overseas, the legendary Test batter stated that the Indian batters must be patient and convert starts into big figures in the upcoming Test series against South Africa.
He further said, “As it is, India plays with five genuine batters, then you have an all-rounder in the form of Jadeja, you then have a wicketkeeper-batter, so it is important for the top five batters to make it count once they get their eye in, once they spend time on the crease.”
Laxman also warned India that they can’t afford to repeat those mistakes if they want to win a Test series in South Africa and said that the batters need to fire on the tour.
He signed off by saying, “Somewhere or the other I feel they are repeating the mistakes and throwing away their wickets after getting set, which you cannot do if you want to perform well against good teams and especially if you want to win the series in South Africa, as a batting unit you will have to fire.”