There has been a big question mark over Dale Steyn’s groin injury, which he picked up during the Mohali Test. And on the eve of the third Test, in Nagpur, South African captain Hashim Amla confirmed his team’s worst fears: Steyn has still not recovered and will miss the must-win match.
“Dale Steyn probably won’t play this Test match. I don’t think his injury has recovered sufficiently,” Amla said. “It looks like a good cricket wicket, and what we expected in the sub-continent. Not having Dale in the team is a setback, not having the best bowler in the world is never a nice thing. But we have some good reserves, and hopefully if they get a chance, they will stand up.”
While Amla admitted that his team has performed below their potential in the Test series so far, he also insisted that they haven’t been as bad as the results have made them look.
“We haven’t played our best cricket. In Mohali, for first three innings of the game, we were still in it. If India got bowled out for 200, and we for 184, it’s a pretty good indication that it was poised up to the last day, which we didn’t play well,” he said. “In the second Test, we didn’t bat well on that first day. So it hasn’t been the free-flowing cricket that we are used to, and hopefully in Nagpur we can get onto the field and give the character performance that South Africa is known for.”
The Proteas captain expressed disappointment with his batsmen in particular, and hoped they would click in the remaining two Tests.
“I think being down certainly makes it a must-win game for us if we want to win the series. We came here to try and win the series. In the first game, we had five frontline bowlers, which for me was a very attacking option. You need 20 wickets to win the Test match, which we managed to do. The issue has been with the lack of runs more than the wickets, so hopefully we get the runs on the board and continue to play the game till the end.
“I would have definitely liked to have got more runs in the one-dayers, as well as the Test matches so far. Hopefully the runs are still to come in the next two big matches to deal with. Ashwin has bowled well on tracks that have helped spin bowling, to his credit, and other spinners, they have bowled very well.”
