Ottis Gibson attests Team India's bowling made a huge difference
Updated - 25 Feb 2018, 06:16 PM
South African head coach Ottis Gibson has lauded the efforts of Team India bowlers after the culmination of bilateral series.
The former Windies fast bowler Gibson asserted the experience in the Indian camp had delivered the results for visitors.
“The gulf between domestic and international cricket is quite wide. But we have seen some exciting new talent and they now have the experience of facing India,” Gibson was quoted as saying by PTI.
While shedding light on the bowlers, Gibson believes exciting youngster Junior Dala is going to be a great asset for the Proteas in the foreseeable future.
“He is short of that. He just needs to figure out what type of bowler he is and what he wants to become. This is the conversation I had with him. He will go back to playing some domestic cricket before playing the IPL,” Gibson maintained.
The 48-year-old Gibson, who hails from Barbados, has succeeded his predecessor Russell Domingo in August 2017.
Interestingly, Gibson revealed the massive difference between two giant forces of the cricket had been the bowling department.
The statement from Gibson came after India clinched the three-match T20I series by 2-1.
In a close encounter, Men in Blue held the nerve to win the series decider at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.
After India was asked to bat first, South Africa was chasing the target of 173 in 20 allotted overs. The Proteas failed to keep the asking run rate in check before debutant Christiaan Jonker (49 off 24) blitz gave the Proteas a sniff at one stage.
Moreover, the hosts were restricted to 165 for six in 20 overs after India finished their innings with 172 for seven.
The experience has played a major part, according to Gibson. The bilateral series subsequently saw the wrist spinners claiming 33 wickets in six ODIs.
India had availed the services of Bhuvneshwar Kumar alongside death overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah, who missed out the penultimate T20I due to abdominal pain.
However, Chris Morris was the experienced player from the Proteas fold as Junior Dala made his debut in the recently concluded series.
“While Junior held his own, Morris has a lot of work to do. He is a match-winner for us but he needs more consistency in his bowling,” Gibson asserted.
On the other side, the absence of senior campaigners has inflicted the pain upon the Proteas, as skipper Faf du Plessis and batting star AB de Villiers missed out due to finger injuries respectively.
“Too many guys got injured. The new guys came in (during ODIs) and the intensity they had to perform at, well, they were not used to it, and weren’t able to adapt quickly enough to it,” Gibson asserted.
Owing to the forced changes that turned out to be a blessing in a disguise.
The Proteas unearthed some serious talent in the form of wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen and Jonker.
“We have seen exciting new players in the ODIs. Lungi Ngidi made a debut, Klassen too and he has been excellent. Dala in this T20 series was also very good, and we saw a little bit of Jonker. He was good too,” Ottis Gibson concluded.
Pertinently, India drubbed the Proteas in the six-match One-day International series by 5-1.
Moreover, the visitors went on to register the glory after 25 years on the South African soil under the leadership of Virat Kohli.
With Proteas all set to face Australia in the four-match Test series, Gibson stated they are working hard and would make a strong impact.
The grueling series will kick off with the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban on March 1.
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