Cricket South Africa
The South African captain would be hoping that the last few days before the World Cup are just the way he pleases. Smith in an interview said that although the results of the ongoing series between India and South Africa won’t really be an indicator of the estimated success in the World Cup, however it shall be a great platform to fill in the spaces in the team that may be still left.
The South African captain’s problems as a leader have all the more increased with the absence of too many experienced players. Jacques Kallis, who was injured during the test series against India, may not be able to make it to the World Cup. Smith accepted that, “The absence of Jacques Kallis does hamper how we can trial certain things.”
Moreover Mark Boucher as well as Herschelle Gibbs would probably not be considered for the team due to the lack of support from the selectors. Thus South Africa would be playing with a fairly young team compared to the previous World Cup, from which only three players have been retained, which includes Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers and Robbie Peterson.
Smith also said that absence of key players was one of the reasons that this series was going to give them an opportunity to try out players and perhaps groom a bowling all-rounder in the form of Wayne Parnell, to play at the number eight spot.
South Africa also have all-rounders in the form of Robbie Peterson, Faf du Plessis and Johan Botha. Johan Botha, who is a pretty useful batsman can put in some useful overs with his off spinners and keep the runs being scored under control. While Faf du Plessis, who hasn’t played much of international cricket, would be one to look out for in the ongoing series.
However with the absence of a good attacking spinner, Smith has his eyes on Imran Tahir, an uncapped leggie of Pakistani origin. Imran Tahir, who qualified for playing for South Africa on the 31st of December 2010, has done pretty well in the domestic as well as in the county cricket.
Smith describes him as an “attacking bowler” and says that he always dreamt of having an attacking spinner in his side ever since he received the captaincy.
With the World Cup in the sub continent, Smith would be hoping that Tahir does well in the ODI series against India and secures the position of an attacking spinner that South Africa lacks.
Tags: Cricket, Cricket World Cup, Herschelle Gibbs, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, ODI Series, SA, South Africa
