Indian cricket team may find it tough to play South Africa in their backyard without any practice match, the former India skipper Ajit Wadekar concerns. He also hopes that India, who outplayed every nation on their home soil will put up a decent fight against the Proteas in their own backyard.
"You need to get adjusted to those wickets because of the bounce. With no practice games, it is going to be a little bit hard on our players. Ours is a balanced team though," the 76- year-old veteran player told reporters.
"At the moment, the (Indian) team is doing really well, they are a very balanced team and they also have (enough) experience to play on any kind of tracks. Their past track record suggests that they seem to be in good form and they should be able to do well," he said.
The men in blue will tour South Africa for a three-Test, six-ODI and three-Twenty20 series, starting January 5. Wadekar believes South Africa is a tough opposition.
"South Africa is always a tough country to beat. They are tough guys and the wickets are a lot faster. India will have to go there well-prepared," Wadekar said on sidelines of an award function organized by Dr. Dayal Foundation here.
76 year old Wadekar, who received the Dr Rameshwar Dayal Lifetime Achievement Award praised Indian skipper Kohli. He was also questioned about Virat's aggression, on which he backed the Indian stalwart.
"Virat is made of a different mould entirely. He is a tremendously attacking cricketer. The present-day game requires that type of a cricketer because without that you won’t be able to attract crowds. Not only is he attacking, but he is a cricketer who can play for the team. He does not like losing."
"I suppose so. Aggression is essential; you can't play with inferiority complex all the time," he added.
Ajit Wadekar also backed India's vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane is currently going through a tough phase.
"There comes a time like this in every cricketer's career (when they go through such a phase). I have seen Sunil Gavaskar going through a bad patch, it can happen to any great cricketer.
"Rahane is one of the top cricketers India has produced and he will definitely come over the bad patch. But the sooner he gets over the bad form, the better it will be for Indian cricket. He should keep on playing because if he keeps playing, he does not lose confidence, I am sure he is going to get back in the runs," Wadekar added.
Wadekar also spoke about how easy it is to get runs for the batsman considering the flat tracks today.
"The wickets are getting better these days and the bowling attacks are becoming stereotypes, so it has become much easier for the batsmen to score runs. But (today's) batsmen are also more skilled than we were".
