New Delhi: Sticking to their strength, which is fast bowling, has thus far worked for South Africa in the on-going tour.
In the opening T20 match, South African pacers leaked too many runs as India put up a formidable total of 199 runs, while batting first. But regardless of that the visiting side backed their speedsters. And in the 2nd T20, which took place at Cuttack, they fired all cylinders to bundle out the India team on a paltry total of 92 runs.
The trio of Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris and Kyle Abbott troubled the Indian batsmen with pace and bounce.
In fact, in the second T20, Faf du Plessis added Albie Morkel in the side, who was making a come back in the side after a gap of one-and-a-half years. The lanky speedster didn't disappoint the skipper and ran away with three wickets to make his come back a memorable one.
The biggest strength for the home side over the years has been its spin bowling.
In the past too Indian spinners have hunted in pairs. At the moment, India have a deadly duo of R Ashwin and Amit Mishra, who played a crucial role in Sri Lanka.
But in the first two T20s, Dhoni persisted with less experienced Axar Patel in place of Mishra. And the ploy didn't work. Knowing the weakness of Proteas against quality spin bowling, India should exploit the area. In lengthy series against Safferes, which has just started, India have to make sure that they stick with their strength and back their spinners throughout.
