Published: Nov 18, 2013, 03:29 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 18, 2013, 03:29 PM (IST)
India tour South Africa for a three-match ODI series and a two-match Test series later this year © Getty Images
Johannesburg: Nov 18, 2013
South Africa’s performance in the recent series against Pakistan in Dubai augured well for the ICC World Cup 2015, but their real test will be the upcoming home series against India, according to former captain Kepler Wessels.
Wessels said he was happy at what he saw of the performance of the South African team against Pakistan in which the Proteas drew the two-Test series 1-1 and won the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series 4-1.
“But I’m interested to see how South Africa will go against India,” he said, when asked about the home series against India which will have two Tests and three ODIs.
Wessels said the South Africa versus India series will be a contest between the home side’s bowling attack and visitors’ batting.
“I have no doubt South Africa will score a lot of runs against India because their bowling attack in South Africa will be limited. But I think the Indian batsmen, particularly the younger ones, have performed well of late and will do well,” he said.
“They will be more of a test for our bowlers than they’ve had against Pakistan.”
He said the current SA squad has a lot of depth and selecting the playing eleven could be difficult.
“There are a lot of options, particularly for AB de Villiers as captain, both in the bowling and batting departments,” Wessels said.
“Selecting the top-15 players won’t be too difficult but finding the right eleven to play at any given time is going to be difficult,” he said, adding that it was a “nice problem” to have that as there was so much depth in the team.
“We’re not sure what’s going to happen to Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith, but if both are brought back into the squad, somebody will miss out.”
