SL VS SA, 2018: Hashim Amla's Disastrous Away Form Hurting South Africa Badly

For millions of avid fans of the gentleman’s game, Hashim Amla isn’t just an ordinary name and not any theatrical character. The South Africa batting icon for years now, has been an inspiration for everyone with his own way of going in the game as a professional.

Well, a great aspect about resolute Amla, has been his ability to accumulate runs amidst a sense of calm and serenity. Eventually, very few in the modern day game can possess of such a trait.

However, the last few years have simply been a nightmare for the batting icon. For years, South Africa continued to be the Test powerhouse, beating teams with ease in their own backyard.

The last few years though have been extremely poor for the Proteas, especially on the shores of the subcontinent. A drawn series against Bangladesh in 2015, was followed by a 3-0 drubbing by the hands of India, in November that year.

To make matters worse now, the Proteas were simply annihilated by a young, but talented Sri Lankan side. It was literally a complete massacre as the South African batsmen seemed utterly ill-equipped. They failed to tackle Sri Lankan bowlers on rank turners.

In such daunting conditions, Amla was bound to be the side’s, go-to man. While given to his stature and elegant wrist work, it thoroughly makes him too attractive to watch among a lot.

Rather, the batting icon returned with underwhelming numbers, ending the tour of Sri Lanka with just 40 runs to his name, at an average of 10.

This, however, isn’t the first time Hashim Amla has endured such a torrid tour. Since January 2015, the right-hander averages a mere 25.03, while playing away from home.

Someone, who averages a tad in excess of 47 across his career, batting at an average of nearly half is far from expected.

Since 2015, South Africa have made a few overseas trips. However, a few tours which include Australia and New Zealand yielded series victories. The four-match affair in England resulted in a complete drubbing as the visitors were beaten fair and square.

In 18 games (31 innings) overseas since January 2015, Amla has just scored a bleak tally of four half-centuries. Three of these half-centuries have come in the English conditions, while the other one came on New Zealand tour. This means, that in 12 innings in the subcontinent, Amla has failed to register even a single half-century.

Being the spine of South Africa’s batting, it is completely safe to tell that in a big way, Amla’s lack of determination against the spinners on dry tracks. It simultaneously hurt South Africa badly.

To add to that, without the presence of AB de Villiers, there has been even more pressure on Amla to deliver. Who knows, we might never even see Amla touring the shores of the subcontinent again.

Below, are some of the numbers depicting sorry run of form for Hashim Amla during overseas since January 2015:

India – 118 runs at 16.85

Bangladesh – 13 runs at 13

Sri Lanka – 40 runs at 10

Australia – 98 runs at 19.60

New Zealand – 153 runs at 30.60

England – 329 runs at 41.12