Before the match against India, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was scared of the bowling attack, said this
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India will face South Africa on November 5 at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. An exciting contest is expected between the two table toppers. Aware of the challenge from the in-form Indian bowlers, South African captain Temba Bavuma said that his batsmen will have to give their best performance.
The top two teams of this World Cup will face each other for the first time in the league stage. India has won all seven matches so far while South Africa has won six matches and suffered the only defeat against the Netherlands. In the last match, India defeated Sri Lanka by 302 runs and South Africa defeated New Zealand by 190 runs.
Bavuma said in the press conference a day before the match, ‘There is a lot of excitement in our team about playing at Eden Garden. This ground has its own history and it will be interesting to play against India here. We are eager to test ourselves against a team like India.
Bavuma said, ‘India has a world class bowling attack for Indian conditions. We will cover all our bases and ensure that there is no gap in preparation.
The 33-year-old captain said, ‘Indian bowlers do not bowl too many loose balls. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami are all very aggressive bowlers and it is not easy to score runs against them in the new ball. They will have to play carefully in the first powerplay.
He further said, ‘Apart from these, spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also taken wickets in the middle overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep are bowling well together. Batting against these two in the middle overs will be challenging. Well, we have been playing spinners very well. But their bowling attack is better than others and we have to show our best ‘A’ game.
Bavuma, who has so far scored only 111 runs in five innings in this tournament, when asked about his poor form, said, ‘You always want to contribute to the team. At present the rest of the batsmen are in excellent form. I have played some partnerships but would like to play big innings. There is a need to maintain confidence in myself and I will play a good innings soon. There is still a lot of cricket left in the tournament and I am sure I will contribute soon.
On the question of what would be the strategy to avoid ‘choking’ (surrendering under pressure) against India, Bavuma said in a sarcastic tone, ‘The two in-form teams are playing against each other. Will you use a word like choking even if India loses? The question is who can play better on the match day.
He said that there were many moments of pressure in the World Cup and after overcoming them we have reached here. Till now I have not heard a word like choking in this World Cup. South Africa has been labeled as ‘chokers’ for losing in big matches, but this time with its performance the team has emerged as a strong contender for the title.
When asked about the team combination on the Eden pitch which is helpful for spinners, he said, ‘I have not seen the wicket yet. If needed, we will field both the spinners. The team composition will be decided only considering the situation.
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