At a time when South African cricket is in flux after a disappointing World Cup and the retirements of Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn (from Tests) earlier this week, the team has a lot of challenges especially with the tour to India later this year.
Speaking to Sportstar , South African team analyst Prasanna Agoram, who is with Dindigul Dragons as part of the TNPL, admitted that while the team is going through transition, there is enough talent in the hut to turn things around quickly.
“It is always difficult losing players like Amla and Steyn and I don’t think you can replace them easily. But at the same time, we have some promising players who have been around and the kind of mentoring Steyn has done with these young fast bowlers like (Kagiso) Rabada, (Lungi) Ngidi and (Anrich) Nortje has been phenomenal.”
Amla’s dip in form
In the last few years, Amla’s form dipped steadily, but Prasanna felt that the former skipper has been a victim of his own success. “Every batsman towards the end of his career goes through issues like slowing reflexes or issues with eyesight, etc.
“Even in the last 12 months he was averaging around 40 across formats, but maybe he was not matching the standards he had set for himself during his dream run and belting tons like the way he used to.”
Unlucky at WC
Elaborating on what happened at the World Cup, Prasanna, a former TN under-19 player and a qualified umpire from the TNCA, said, “We were a bit unlucky. Rabada was not 100% and Ngidi got injured against Bangladesh.
“Before the tournament, we lost pacer Nortje and he is someone who can bowl 150kmph. Had we had just one of these bowlers fit it would have been different.”
When asked how long the transition will take, Prasanna refused to be drawn to timelines saying, “I won’t use transition as an excuse and that we will be competitive in two or three years.
“We have some really promising talents with bat and ball, and I won’t be surprised if we are strong right from the series against India.”
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