De Villiers confident of defeating India in the ODI series; coach warns side against overconfidence
South African ODI skipper AB de Villiers is confident that his all-round side can defeat India in the 5-match ODI series which begins at Rajkot on Sunday, IBNLive reports. The destructive batsman dismissed suggestions that he was struggling against Ravichandran Ashwin and instead talked up his side’s own bowling attack.
The visitors got their 72-day long tour to India on a positive note by winning the T20 series 2-0 after victories at Dharamsala and Cuttack before rain forced the final match at Kolkata to be washed out without a ball being bowled. De Villiers is hopeful that his side can carry the confidence forward and win a bilateral series in India for the first time.
“It is a great start in what promises to be a very challenging tour for us. In the T20 series, I don't think a lot of people expected us to play the way we did. There will be lots of traveling, lots of different grounds, lots of different wickets. It is going to be challenging but we have got very important momentum on our side and we are hoping to build on it tomorrow," De Villiers said.
"We are hoping to win the series. We drew 2-2 way back in 2006. I was part of that series. We would love to win the series. We have shown the world that we can beat India in India. We have just got to play very good cricket. The T20 series is in the past. It is a whole new story now. India will try to bounce back and hopefully we will stop them."
Looking forward to the upcoming series, De Villiers said that though the pitch at Kanpur looks like a sporting wicket, he was expecting spinning tracks further down the line and added that his side are more than ready for the challenge.
"I don't think spinners have been the theme of the series so far. I feel seamers have won us the games but having said that India have got good spinners and I will be expecting the wickets to get slower as we go on in the series. The wicket that is out here doesn't look like a spinning track. Looks like a really good wicket. You can expect normal spin. Nothing out of the world,” he said.
"The plan is to play a good cricket game. We have covered all our bases. There are no funny game plans. If we play well, we have a good chance of winning. It doesn't look like a spinning track. It looks like a good cricket wicket. Anyway, we are well prepared to face a lot of spin here in India.”
De Villiers praises South African bowling attack
T20 skipper Faf du Plessis had said after the Cuttack match, where India were bundled out for 92, that he rated the bowling performance as their best ever in the format. De Villiers echoed Du Plessis thoughts and felt that with the duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel joining their ranks after being rested for the T20 leg of the tour, the South African bowling unit is a well-rounded one.
"You have seen that over the years, especially the last few. We have guys who can swing it, seam off the wicket, guys who can spin, be it off spin or leg spin. So we have got all bases covered," De Villiers said. "We have got a very balanced bowling attack. But we don't lean too much on the spinners or the seam bowlers. We have got firepower in all the departments of our bowling.”
"It is nice to have both of them back. We have not seen them for a while. They bring good energy and experience to the team. Very excited to see them run into bowl tomorrow. They look in really good form especially Morne who is going to play his 100th ODI tomorrow. We are happy for him. It is a great achievement."
De Villiers dismisses Ashwin ‘bunny’ tag and claims of South Africa’s supposed lack of bench strength
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed De Villiers on both occasions during the T20 series leading to suggestions that he was struggling against India’s in-form bowler. This claim was dismissed however De Villiers who blamed himself for gifting his wicket to Ashwin.
"I can answer that very well. He is a very good bowler. But I don't think he got me out in either of the games. I got myself out in both the games. When you face technical flaws against a bowler, then you have to worry about your game. But that was not the case,” De Villiers said when asked about the apparent stranglehold Ashwin has over him.
“I was looking to dominate. Last game I got a bit lazy, played for the spin when there was not a lot of it. There is nothing to worry about. Having said that, he is a world class bowler and needs to be respected."
De Villiers also refuted suggestions that the South African squad was one lacking in experience.
“We have got good depth. Lots of option back home as well. I would say we are a pretty settled ODI team. We have similar kind of team for the last 3-4 years. Players are growing into their roles. That is what you want," he added.
South African coach warns side against overconfidence
South African coach Russell Domingo warned his side not to be over confident and reminded his troops that the tour has just begun.
"We shouldn't get too cocky and confident on what has happened as we know India are a very quality side. As far as I'm concerned, India are pretty good in all three formats,” Domingo said, as reported by IBNLive. "We are very pleased with the results so far but we have only played two days of cricket and there's 25 days left. We have to focus all our energy on Kanpur. We have to approach one game at a time and not look too far ahead."
Domingo had some interesting things to say when asked what the biggest challenges the tour to India threw up.
"Obviously the conditions. We know the ball is going to spin a lot, the crowd support is immense, the passion for the game, the constant scrutiny from the media and public. I put on the TV and the only thing I'm watching is the highlights of the game and constant analysis," he said. "I'm not talking about the crowd noise alone but even the media noise. Lots of media, lots of questions! Keeping our focus and dealing with all this noise is the main goal."