Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that although Virender Sehwag, recovering from a sore back, looked good at the nets here on Tuesday, a final decision on the opener playing the second ODI would be taken on the morning of the match.
Dhoni said his team has had to grapple with plenty of injuries. “We have been unlucky with injuries. We have also been playing a lot of cricket,” he added.
He conceded that India had not quite bowled well at the death in recent times. “It is an art, especially on the sub-continental pitches where there generally is not much assistance for the pacemen. It's not only about bowling the yorkers but varying your pace, length and line intelligently.”
While Dhoni admitted senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was missed, he was pleased with the performance of left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
“He bowled really well the other day in Jaipur. He is also a capable batsman. I think we should call him an all-rounder.” He felt if spinners such as Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan bowl reasonably well on belters, then their batting added depth to the line-up.
Dhoni lauded the contribution of coach Gary Kirsten. “He came to the job with an open mind. He has been an asset for us.”
He said it was hard to experiment with the Indian side because the expectations were high. “People want us to win all the time. We have to pick the best available eleven.”
South African coach Corrie van zyl said he was seeking to give all the players - the visitors have a 16-man squad here – an opportunity during the three-match ODI series.
“We have to find out which players would be most suitable for the World Cup in these conditions next year. That is our objective,” he added.
On the omission of Hashim Amla from the eleven for the first ODI, van Zyl said, “He was not a part of the original ODI squad and only came in as a replacement for the injured Graeme Smith. It would not have been fair on the others if we had played Amla before them.”
The South African coach felt, both, his batsmen and bowlers did not adhere to the basics in the first ODI.
