SA vs IND 2018: Harbhajan Singh Feels Dale Steyn Will Face Stern Competition from Indian Batters

India’s tour of South Africa is just ten days away, and the war of words has begun, as veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels the Indian batsmen will challenge the South African fast bowler, Dale Steyn.

The Indian team just will begin 2018 with a tour  South Africa which consists of three Tests, six ODI’s and three T20Is. India had a dominant run at home and will be looking forward to carrying the good form to South Africa as well.

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The Indian team, on the other hand, began their preparations for the tour scheduled to begin on 5^th January by having green pitches which supported swing and bounce against Sri Lanka.

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It will be Virat Kohli’s first tour as a captain of the rainbow nation, and he is leaving no stone unturned to prepare for it.

South Africa’s pace battery has been powered by the return of their spearhead Dale Steyn, but Indian off-spinner feels it won’t be easy for the fast bowler, as he will get challenged by the famed Indian batting line-up,

“Dale Steyn is unarguably the best fast bowler of the last ten years but coming back into international cricket is not easy. A Test match against Zimbabwe will not exactly be an indicator of what he can do against India. Look at the Indian batting line up. We have so much quality. Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma. This is perhaps among the best line-up in world cricket. For both Steyn and Morkel, it will be a challenge to stop this line-up especially when they themselves will need to get into the groove,”  

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Photo Credit: BCCI.Harbhajan has picked Rohit Sharma ahead of Hardik Pandya for the number six position, as he is still not confident about Pandya’s batting skills,

“Rohit is a fabulous player. Someone who plays the pull shot well and also plays the cut shot well. Rohit is my pick at No.6. He can ride the bounce and play his strokes,” he further explained. “Hardik is a talented boy, but Rohit for me is a complete batsman,” 

Harbhajan feels Ravichandran Ashwin should be an “automatic selection” in the playing XI,

“If Ashwin is still not an automatic pick after 300 wickets then when?” questioned Harbhajan. For someone, who was known as Ricky Ponting’s nemesis (he got the former Australian captain 12 times in Tests), Harbhajan refuses to believe the theory that off-spinners would only be effective against a team that has more left-handers. The South African pitches will test the patience of spinners as there won’t be much purchase like the sub-continent tracks where the ball will turn and jump from Day 1. That’s where skill comes into play as one has got to be patient,” 

He also added India has the team to beat the Africans in their backyard,

“It’s a confident team and it’s always good to win matches before any overseas tour. Any team that travels overseas loves to believe that it is going there to win the series. The Indian team is no different. We have a good batting line-up and a quality pace attack,”