South African captain Faf du Plessis was not too happy with the surface for the second Test here.
Sharing his thoughts, du Plessis said, “It looks a bit browner than I thought it would be. The information from the groundsman was that the grass on the wicket had been burnt from the heat over the last week. It was very hot. We’ve asked for pace and bounce so hopefully we will get that.”
He added, “Usually the ball doesn’t spin much here. To get the conditions we want, the ball must spin as little as possible.”
Speaking about India, du Plessis said, “India, at times, was really good in that first Test. They were in the game for 90 per cent of the time. They will have taken a lot of positives from that match, and they will feel they weren’t far off.”
He said, “I expect another huge performance from India. For us, it’s about making sure we don’t take a step back and rely on a 1-0 lead. If you do that against a strong team like India, they will pounce on you.”
Talking about the balance in the team, he said, “Do we want to keep the same balance, of four seamers and a spinner, or do we look at an allrounder. Once again it’s a tough selection but it’s a nice one to have.”
du Plessis said AB de Villiers was keen to live up to the expectations. “I know he is very hungry to do well and a hungry AB usually means a big run-scoring AB.”
On the battle between Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers for batting honours in the series, du Plessis said, “Anyone who gets judged as being the best in the world, whether it is a bowler, batsman or team, I feel should get judged from his performances all around the world.”
He saw Chris Morris as a fourth-seamer replacement. “If you pick four seamers, he can be in amongst them. Consistency-wise he has got a bit of work to do to be the third seamer.”
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