Amla justifies Proteas blocking ploy
Skipper Hashim Amla says blocking out the Indian attack in the Delhi Test was a bid to restore the Proteas’ pride.
|||The “unnatural” approach of blocking out the Indian attack in the Delhi Test was an attempt at getting pride back for the beaten Proteas, says captain Hashim Amla.
Set a mammoth task of getting 481 runs for victory, the South Africans had to bat through five sessions to draw the game as they deemed the target to be too steep to go for.
Instead, Amla and his vice-captain AB de Villiers led the way in defying the Indian bowlers for 143.1 overs in the second innings before going down by a massive 337 runs on Monday.
Amla started the process on Sunday and continued on Monday before he was clean-bowled by a superb Ravindra Jadeja delivery that spun sharply for 25 off 244 balls and 289 minutes, 11 minutes short of five hours.
De Villiers nearly took the Proteas through to the end, but once Dane Vilas was dismissed by paceman Umesh Yadav after tea, De Villiers went immediately for 43 (off 297 balls in six minutes short of six hours) as South Africa lost their last four wickets for seven runs.
But while it appears to be a gallant effort from the batsmen to hold out for so long, the fact that they scored only 143 runs in as many overs showed a lack of initiative from the Proteas as they never made an attempt to go for the win in what was a dead-rubber Test, as the Indians had wrapped up a 2-0 series victory in the third game in Nagpur.
Amla, though, felt differently on Monday. “Chasing 480, if you asked anyone here who would have thought we could get 480, I don’t think many would put their hands up. It was a daunting target, especially weighed up with five sessions to bat. Having come close to that in the past, we felt that was the best way to save the game for us,” he said in a Cricket South Africa statement.
He also said in the post-match TV interview: “You’ve got to do what’s best for the team. It’s pretty easy to go out there and try to just get some runs under your belt and walk away from the series with something behind you.
“But that won’t do anything for your team or the country. So we tried to take it as deep as possible, save the game and get some pride for the country. So I was exceptionally happy with the way the guys fought. Unfortunately we were probably outplayed the whole series by India – they batted better than us and bowled better than us.”
Amla stated that trying to draw the game was more desirable for the Proteas than playing normally and losing without putting up a fight. “It was a tough series for our batters, and we didn’t manage to get as much runs. Most of the time it was the first innings that cost us matches,” he said.
“We tried to play cricket that was beneficial to our team and our country. A batter wants to score runs, that’s why you are a batsman. We could have come out and tried to score 50s and 100s, but in the greater scheme of things, it didn’t fit into our team ethos of trying to save a game when victory is not probable.
“The need at the time was for us to try and bat for as long as possible. We needed to take as many risky shots out of the equation to try and draw the Test match. To block full tosses and half-volleys is quite difficult, it’s unnatural for a batsman, but when it is done, you appreciate the determination that somebody shows.
“AB was a prime example in this innings. We had to knuckle down for the team’s sake, there was no selfishness towards the team.”
Amla, coach Russell Domingo and the Proteas selectors will have some tough decisions to make ahead of England’s visit to South Africa, which kicks off with the Boxing Day Test at Kingsmead in Durban.
“To lift the morale, we have about two weeks until the England series. We will sit down and reassess and there may be some decisions that will need to be made,” Amla said. “We need to let the dust settle for a few days and take it forward when we get back to South Africa.”
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@IndyCapeSport