Dale blew us away: MSD
Mahendra Singh Dhoni heaped praise on ten-wicket man Dale Steyn, calling his opening burst in the Indian first innings the ‘best display of conventional swing’ he has seen in the last 12 months.
“The way Steyn bowled the first few overs, getting Vijay and Sachin, most of them were brilliant deliveries,” the Indian captain said after his team slumped to an innings and six-run loss to South Africa in the first Test on Tuesday.
“Steyn bowled really well with the ball that was changed too just before tea yesterday. He had already bowled 12-15 overs. To come back bowling the way he did was amazing. In the last 12 months, this was the best display of conventional swing bowling I have seen. We’ve seen good reverse swing in that period but you hardly get to see good conventional swing, especially in India. We were blown away by Dale, how he bowled with the new ball, complemented by their other fast bowlers.”
This was Dhoni’s first defeat in 12 Tests as skipper. “You miss players because of injuries, but this was the best available squad at that time,” he reflected.
“This is our bench strength, I won’t complain about that. Of course, we missed the experienced players, but it was good to see youngsters getting exposed to international cricket. We were outplayed in all departments. Because we were outplayed, we are on the losing side. There are plenty of lessons to be learnt,” the Jharkhandi said.
Dhoni appeared impressed by debutants S Badrinath and Wriddhiman Saha. The former made 56 in the first innings and a latter a spirited 36 in the second. “I think they did quite well,” he remarked.
“Wriddhiman got a brilliant delivery in the first innings but played well in the second. Badrinath looked quite calm and composed, his approach to Test cricket was good.
“In a way, it was good for them because they got an opportunity. Most of the time, middle-order batsmen don’t get an opportunity to play in this Indian team.”
Left-arm spinner Paul Harris continued to frustrate India with his left-arm over, outside-leg line. “At some stage, you have to play your shots against him,” Dhoni said.
“He can really bind one end for them. He’s can bowl 30 overs in a day, you can’t look to just block 30 overs. You’ll see batsmen looking to be more positive, but at the same time there’s not plenty of shots you can offer to that line of attack. When it pays off you look really good, but when it doesn’t, it looks like a rash shot.”
