Dale Steyn admits Virender Sehwag was a nightmare
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn acknowledged the fact that former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was a nightmare in his prime, and was extremely difficult to bowl to, reports Indian Express. He also went on to state that there was absolutely no room for error while bowling to the ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’.
“In the past times that I have played here(India), I have bowled against guys like Virender Sehwag, that guy was a nightmare. He scored 300 in Chennai and if you missed him by a small margin, he would smoke you out,” he stated.
Sehwag recently announced his retirement from International cricket after an illustrous career spanning more than a decade. Steyn said that the current Indian team possessed a power-packed batting line-up “but not someone like Sehwag who would blaze right from word go.”
Talking about the upcoming test series against India, Steyn does not believe that the Proteas are the favourite to win the series and terms the series an equal challenge for both teams. “I don’t think we are favourites, we are playing in India’s back garden. It’s going to be extremely difficult. I think we are coming to this series with a lot of expectations after winning the T20s and the ODIs, so we’ve got confidence on our side and ideally we would like to win, that’s what we are here for,” he stressed.
With 402 Test wickets to his name, Steyn admits that he enjoys test cricket more than the other formats. “I personally enjoy the Tests more than anything else and we’ve come up with some good game plans. We have got a great bowling attack and we have got a fantastic batting line-up. We are up for the challenge, that’s for sure,” he said.
The 32-year-old also talked about his strategy while bowling to Indian batsmen. “It’s not rocket science, if you have got a guy like Sachin(Tendulkar) and you bowl a top of stump to him, he will hit you through the point, when you bowl it to Murali Vijay, he will probably hit you through the covers, so it’s important to know where you want the fielder to be positioned.”
”The delivery stays the same, but the batsman’s shots will change. So, it’s about getting into his head a little bit and looking into his last 10 dismissals. Position a fielder there and if he gets out in a similar fashion, may be laugh at him too.. Its not rocket science,” he continued.
The South African asserted that pace was a crucial element in Indian conditions. “I think pace through the air is really important. With the wickets here on the slow side, anything from 135 (kmph) down, batters are able to make the adjustment when the ball hits the deck. It’s the guys that bowl 145 (kmph) plus who really push batters, it gives them a lot less time to adjust..control is another thing, you’ve got to land the new ball in the right areas.”