Published: Feb 07, 2014, 11:52 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 07, 2014, 11:53 AM (IST)
Feb 7, 2014
South African batting stalwart, AB De Villiers who has returned from an injury has warned Australia that this current Proteas side is a far more lethal and dangerous side than the one of 2009, which had surrendered meekly to the Australians.
Though earlier there were concerns that De Villiers may miss the series against Australia due to him recovering from a hand injury , he put all doubts to rest as he smashed 40 off 65 balls in a warm-up game for South Africa against the Composite XI which now holds him in good stead before the three-match Test series, reported the Daily Telegraph.
“We’ve really peaked in the past two years. They beat us here 2-1 [in 2009] … we’re [now] a different team. I’m not going to say that we can’t lose. I’m not saying we’re invincible or anything like that. But I feel we’re playing better cricket than ever now, and we’re confident as a team,” said De Villiers about South Africa’s poor home record against the Australians.
Australia had beaten South Africa in 2009 and had extended the Proteas’ poor record against them by winning in Johannesburg and Durban.
That Australian squad had four Test debutants for Australia which also included current party member Phillip Hughes and the win allowed Australia to make a strong statement in the hierarchy of world cricket.
“The second time we got to the No.1 ranking recently, we felt like ‘You know what, we’re playing great cricket, now it’s up to us to dominate for 5-10 years,” said Hughes about South Africa grabbing back the World No 1 ranking after that defeat and hoping that they dominate the game in the years to come by.
When asked about Australian skipper Michael Clarke who did not watch a single ball of South Africa’s win over India in the home series recently, De Villiers quipped,” I’m actually doing what Michael Clarke’s been doing – ‘Oh, did South Africa beat India!?Really?’.”
“Let me rephrase. I’ve been following a bit here and there, but I didn’t watch a lot of cricket,” added De Villiers who says cricket is not high on his priority list after undergoing his hand surgery.
“Obviously they [Australia] have had a wonderful series there, but I’ve played against all of them before so there’s no need to watch too many videos,” concluded De Villiers on questions of the Proteas watching videos of the Australians to prepare for the upcoming series.
