Asserting the fact that AB de Villiers’ 100th Test will not take the focus away from the second Test, South Africa captain Hashim Amla today said the star batsman will only add to the team’s effort of trying to level the four-match series.
“No it (De Villiers’ 100th Test occasion) does not (distract the focus of the team) … Hopefully, he gets into the park tomorrow and wins the game for us – that will be ideal match for him and us,” Amla said.
“Having lost the previous match, obviously it is not difficult for us to focus on this match. It’s been great to have something to celebrate, but in terms of taking our focus away, no I don’t think so,” he added.
Talking about De Villiers, Amla said it is an amazing feat to play for the country for the 100th time. “As a team, we all enjoy the fact that AB is playing his 100th game. As a South African, we know that this is an amazing feat. We have all celebrated the occasion …,” he said.
Asked whether the talk of the spinning pitch has had a negative effect on the team, Amla countered by saying lack of spin actually gave trouble to them. “The (Mohali) pitch was what it was. It was the lack of turn that did us in,” he said.
Amla further said the Bangalore pitch doesn’t seem like Mohali due to the overcast conditions and moisture around. “I will have a look at the (Chinnaswamy) pitch tomorrow, but with these sorts of conditions and moisture around, it does not seem like the Mohali pitch,” he said.
Asked whether he was worried about the gloomy conditions, Amla said, “No, not worried about that. Those sorts of things are out of your control.”
Even though overcast conditions suit South African seamers, but Amla said that the impact of the disciplined Indian bowling cannot be ruled out .
“Lets see how the weather tomorrow is like. But if the ball does good– seam bowling– this type of conditions suits seam bowling than in my point of view India has got some disciplined bowlers as well so lets not rule them out as yet. When the ball is moving and swinging all you got to do is land in a decent area — no matter who is bowling, its a good ball. Hope our bowlers will do a good job for us,” he said.