India Won’t Face The Same Bowlers, Says AB de Villiers As India Prepare On pacer-Friendly Wickets

With Virat Kohli publicly expressing his displeasure over the lack of preparation time ahead of the tough series against South Africa, his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate and South Africa star AB de Villiers has stated that preparing in another country for a lengthy period is unrealistic due to the current schedule

The upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka will finish on December 24 (final T20I) before Virat Kohli & Co. fly off to South Africa on December 28, with the first Test starting on January 5. With less than a week available to prepare for the first Test, Kohli had slammed the cramped schedule, stressing that the scheduling needed to be assessed in future.

“As usual cramped for time, which I think we needed to assess in future as well because we very easily assess the team when we go abroad but we don’t look at how many days we have got to prepare before we go to a particular place to play,” Kohli had said before the second Test against Sri Lanka.

“And everyone starts judging players when results come after Test matches. But it should be a fair game, where we get to prepare the way we want to and then we are entitled to be criticised. So we thought this (getting seam-friendly wickets at the ongoing series) is an ample opportunity for us to challenge ourselves, put us in a situation (which they expect to encounter in South Africa),” the India captain added.

However, de Villiers has a different take on today’s cramped schedule. The former Proteas skipper said that it is quite unrealistic to prepare extensively in another country prior to a series but at the same time, stated that the BCCI should ‘investigate the possibility’ if Kohli believes it was the best way for the team.

“Being in a country for a month before playing a series is ideal but it’s unrealistic, especially with our current schedules. If you’re prepared to do that (come earlier), you won’t be at home for many days of the year. Virat is a disciplined and adaptable guy. If he believes that’s the best way for India to prepare for tours, they must investigate the possibility,” de Villiers was quoted as saying by The Citizen.

De Villiers further expressed his doubt over whether preparing on pacer-friendly wickets would get the Indian players ready for the series in South Africa. Kohli has already said that the team-management had asked the pitches to be made pacer-friendly in order to get the players ready for the upcoming series but de Villiers pointed out that even though the pitch will give the Indian players a feel of what to expect in South Africa, they should remember the quality attack they are going to face.

“It might help them but India has got to remember that they won’t face the same bowlers. They’ll face guys that come from here and know in which areas to bowl. It’s easy to overthink these situations. In the end, it’s just about getting onto the field and achieving results,” de Villiers said.

India, who have never won a series in South Africa, will play 3 Tests, 6 ODIs and three T20Is against the Proteas.

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