South African all-rounder JP Duminy could miss opening test against India
A recurring hand injury could force South African talisman JP Duminy to miss their opening test match against India, to be held on November 5. He has also been ruled out of the only practice game against Board President XI, ahead of the first test against India.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) have stated that Duminy is yet to recover and is currently undergoing treatment. A CSA spokesperson said, “the full nature of the injury is yet to be established, hence we don’t know how long it’s going to take. He is currently 50:50 for the opening game. He currently still has stitches in his injury area and until that is removed, we can’t do a fair assessment regarding his availability.”
Duminy has already missed the last two One Day Internationals (ODI) of the series. He injured his hand, by attempting to catch a ball in third ODI held in Rajkot. South Africa went onto win the match by 18 runs.
Injured pacer Morne Morkel bowled 5 overs in the game against Board President XI, as he was named in the squad.
South African opener Stiaan Van Zyl is hoping that his experience of playing various format of the game, could help him become successful in India. He said, "Playing on the sub-continent wickets has given me a lot of confidence, especially since i have done well. However, test cricket is a different ball game altogther. I was lucky that I could play a lot of spin bowling in Kerala, during my ‘A’ match. There is only one way for a batsmen to be successful on a sub-continent pitch – Keep rotating the strike, so you can release the pressure. Also, always put away the loose ball.”
Van Zyl has been taking a lot of advice from batting Coach Michael Hussey recently. He said,”Hussey told me that the key to success in India is to always play on the back foot. That’s what I’m concentrating on. Van Zyl has played a total of five test matches for South Africa so far.