South Africa vs India 2018: Five strategies the hosts should adopt to counter wrist-spin
South Africa have been very dominant on their home turf over the past few years, and the current 3-0 drubbing against India is an unfamiliar situation for them. Things have changed very quickly for the hosts. They came into the series as the Number 1 ODI side, expecting to compete dominantly in the series, and are now going down the barrel, losing 3 games on the trot.
The tracks in South Africa are known for bounce and lateral movement, but this time around, things have changed. Fast bowlers didn't get any help out of the tracks in the first three ODIs. Instead, the pitches turned out to be conducive to spin bowling. Both the Indian spinners dominated the proceedings and turned out to be unplayable for the hosts.
At Newlands, the hosts had a good power play, going at a run rate of 5.00 an over, with only one batsman back in the shed and looked well on course to chase down India's 303-run total. However, the moment the spinners came into the attack, their shoulders dropped and wickets fell like nine pins. The middle-order had no clue what was coming at them, and they were unable to read the ball.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have bowled well in tandem, getting 21 wickets between them in just three games. Both of them look menacing, and no batsman seems to have the ability to counter them with confidence.
After the Newlands ODI, the Proteas only have a couple of days to sort things out. With just three games left in the series, the hosts can't afford any more let-offs.
Here are five ways in which South Africa can tackle Chahal and Yadav on the rest of the tour:
#5 Pick the spinners off the hand
The batsman should try and pick the spinners off the hand and not off the track. If a ball is not picked off the hand, he'll lose that crucial fraction of a second that he can use to get into position.
With the likes of Tabraiz Shamsi in the squad, the top 7 batters should face him in the nets, to make sure they can read the wrong'un of Yadav more often than not.