da pinnacle： Andre Nel brushed off suggestions that a struggling Indian side would be fair game as the series resumes in the Western Cape
Dileep Premachandran in Cape Town25-Nov-2006
‘The biggest thing for us is to stick to our plans and do the basics right and if youdo that, I think you can do well against Indian batting’ -Andre Nel © Getty Images
Andre Nel expressed amazement that India’s defeat in Durban had led to adebate in the country’s parliament, and brushed off suggestions that astruggling Indian side would be fair game as the series resumes in theWestern Cape. Nel was surprised at how quickly the Indians had beenwritten off, and insisted that the batting in particular would be nopushover.”They are a quality side and can come back,” he said, speaking to themedia after a training session on Friday evening. “We are in for a bigchallenge the next three games. I think they [the batsmen] are awesome,and if you don’t get the basics right they can take you apart. The biggestthing for us is to stick to our plans and do the basics right and if youdo that, I think you can do well against Indian batting.”According to him, the 157-run drubbing in Durban was largely down to theextra bounce in the pitch, which discomfited an Indian middle order thathas little experience of such conditions. “It takes time to adapt to thatand maybe there wasn’t enough time,” he said. “But they’re all qualityplayers and they’ll come back stronger and ten times hungrier to do well.They’ll be scarred by the loss, and I think we’re prepared for a hardertime on Sunday.”He also dismissed suggestions that India were a two-man batting side. “Themiddle order looks a bit inexperienced with Yuvraj [Singh] not being therebut I think they’re all quality players,” he said. “[Suresh] Raina is agood player, [Dinesh] Mongia can score some runs. They’re still dangerousand you cannot underestimate any batter if he’s playing internationalcricket. They are key players, Sachin [Tendulkar] and [Rahul] Dravid, andif you get them out it always looks like there is a small chance but youcan never ever take anyone too lightly.”Nel was delighted at having scalped Tendulkar at Kingsmead, continuing aremarkable run of success against the world’s best batsmen. Though he hasdismissed Brian Lara 11 times in international cricket, Nel refused to bedrawn into any comparisons. “I don’t think I’ve had success againstSachin, I have taken him out only once,” he said. “You can’t call itsuccess yet. There’s a long way to go in this series, still three moreone-day games and the Test series. I respect him but I won’t back down tohim. They’re top players, and you can’t afford to do that.”India’s relatively inexperienced pace attack, from which Munaf Patel willbe missing on Sunday, also came in for some encouraging words from a man whose off-field persona is a far cry from the bully-boy tactics often seen in the middle.”They have two left-armers, and Sreesanth has quite decent pace and bowlsin good areas,” said Nel. “We think Patel is injured and not bowling asquick as we thought he would. Everybody says he’s the new quick bowlinghope, but he’s not bowling quick at the moment. It’s a good balancedattack and if they can get the basics right and get used to conditions, Ithink they can be very effective.”Zaheer Khan is the most senior of those bowlers, a man on the comebacktrail, and Nel made no secret of the fact that he rates him as anopponent. “I haven’t followed what happened with Indian cricket but he hasalways bowled quite well for India in the past. He bowls well at the deathfor them. He’s quality bowler and deserves to be in the side at themoment, I think.”Looking ahead to the game, Nel said that a slower pitch might make for amore even contest. “There might be a little more bounce but it’s still alot slower,” he said. “It could be better conditions for the Indian team,so I think it will be a good challenge.”Apart from scalping 4 for 13 in Durban, Nel also contributed a rapid 22,his highest ODI score, enjoying a partnership with Jacques Kallis. “As Iwalked in, I said: ‘I never thought I would bat with Jacques Kallis in aone-day game’. So, it was pretty funny for me and I enjoyed scoring someruns.”With the Indian batting looking so brittle at the moment, there might bemuch more scope for enjoyment as the one-day caravan winds on.