South African captain Jacques Kallis said the opening partnership between Hashim Amla and Loots Bosman enabled his side to construct a formidable score. “A.B. de Villiers was just brilliant towards the end. I could build another partnership with him. I knew a score of 360 plus would a psychological barrier for the Indian team,” he said.
Kallis was not harsh on the fresh crop of Indian pacemen. “Some of them are new to international cricket and it would have been very hard for them to bowl at experienced batsmen in these conditions.”
Talking about young Indian batsmen, he said, “I think Virat Kohli has come on by leaps and bounds. Suresh Raina too is an improved player. I think the IPL has really helped some of the young Indian cricketers.”
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said, “It was a slow wicket and our pacemen were not the kind who were good at varying their pace. If we had Zaheer, Nehra or Praveen, things would have been different. We conceded too many runs in the last ten overs. It was going to be hard for us after that.”
India coach Gary Kirsten said, “I would not judge the young Indian pacemen on the basis of this one performance. They were up against it in these conditions, against some fine batsmen. We are still looking for the right bowlers and I am confident we will find them. We have good young players in batting though.”
