30 September 2019, by: Sarah Waris of CricXtasy

Will the scars of 2015 haunt Bavuma, Elgar and Faf?

Four years after their mauling on what can be termed as controversial pitches, South Africa set foot on Indian shores eager to reverse their Test performance in the Asian continent.

Managing a high score of 214 in their seven innings in 2015, the Proteas were manhandled and undone by the Indian tweakers, who ended up with 60 wickets of the 68 that fell on the tour.

Just one game lasted the entirety of five days, with the last match at New Delhi being won by India in the dying stages. Two games lasted less than three days, as India went on to win the four-match series 3-0. The second Test at Bengaluru was affected by internment rain, sans which the series result would have painted an even bleaker picture.

Even as controversy erupted on the doctored tracks, the lack of application by the Proteas batters on less-than-favourable conditions came to the fore. Experienced players like Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy stumbled; unable to get a grasp on the proceedings.

The quartet combined to make 506 runs in seven innings, with only de Villiers shining through with two fifties to his name. The strike-rate too hovered on the wrong side of 50 for all top order batters (de Villiers had the highest strike rate among batters on the tour – 42.43), and the inability to score runs at a quick pace along with the shoddy technique only combined to spell doom.

Four years hence, the South Africans, with new faces in tow, gear up for their biggest battle yet. Only Dean Elgar, du Plessis and Temba Bavuma exist from the Test squad that visited India in 2015, and whether the nightmares will continue to haunt them this time around as well or they can flourish with a squad that will be sans baggage remains to be seen.

Du Plessis had stamped his authority in the longest format of the game, scoring four tough tons and seven fifties in 37 innings. Entering the series against India with an average of 51.55, the middle order bat was one of the players to watch out for, but what unfurled over the next four weeks was nothing short of abysmal.

Scoring 0, 1, 0, 10, 39, 0 and 10 in four games, du Plessis was particularly troubled by Ravindra Jadeja, who got him out on four occasions. He faced 149 balls by the left-arm orthodox bowler for just 35 runs, playing 131 dots.

His dismissal in the first innings that he played, where he was unable to gauge the angle and the line of the delivery, set the precedent for the rest of the series. He failed to read the spin on the ball regularly, and his muddled mindset was on full display at Nagpur.

Eager to go for a big hit no matter where the ball pitched, du Plessis slogged mindlessly only to see his off stumped uprooted. Though he did look solid in the second leg of the Nagpur Test, grinding it out for 39 in 152 balls, his woes against spin returned as the ball from Amit Mishra snuck under his bat to hit middle stump.

Dean Elgar, on the other hand, returned better numbers than Faf, and was South Africa’s highest run-scorer after de Villiers with 137 runs under his belt, but looked an iffy self when Ravichandran Ashwin was with the cherry.

The left-handed batsman started the series positively with a couple of good hits to the boundary but made a couple of wrong choices thereafter – first playing a big slog-sweep against the turning ball and following it up with a cut off a carrom ball – both against Ashwin.

Though the Indian set him up beautifully at Nagpur, beating him four times in a row with the off-spin to follow it up with a carrom ball, Elgar, instead of playing according to merit perished while looking to break the shackles. He eventually ended up gifting his wicket five times to Ashwin, scoring 91 runs in 227 deliveries.

Temba Bavuma might have ended up as the biggest positive from the Proteas side last time around, scoring 56 runs in the two innings he batted in as a makeshift opener. Holding on for 172 balls, Bavuma shuffled between his back foot and front foot with ease against the spinners.

Though Ashwin cramped him up for room constantly, the South African carefully navigated his spells with a firm defensive willow and was only out to a ripper by Jadeja in the first innings he batted in. He faced 117 balls in the second essay at Delhi, even hitting Ashwin for a six when he sensed a short ball from the offie. It took yet another cracker to get Bavuma back in the hut – a ball that held its line only to spin away at the very last minute.

Since then, Bavuma has regularly attended spin camps that have been held by the South African management in India. He recently participated in the series against India A held in the nation as well to acclimatize himself to the tough conditions for the series with the senior team.

With a Man of the Series winning performance in the recent T20I leg, Bavuma, who handled the duo of Jadeja and Krunal Pandya with ease, might just be the man to watch out for as Virat Kohli’s men aim to extend their winning streak in the World Test Championships.

South Africa, despite the spin camps and the A-series’ in Asia, showcased their frailties once again on their tour to Sri Lanka last year, when they went down 0-2. 37 of the 40 wickets went down to spinners, with Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath wreaking havoc, scalping 16 and 12 respectively.

Once again, the batters failed to leave their mark, and once again the big guns failed to fire, with du Plessis top-scoring in the series with just 105 runs in four innings.

The experience in the South African team has further diminished since – with Amla hanging up his boots early this year, and now face India equipped with a new-look team. Though Aiden Markram – on his first Test tour to India – suggested that the horrors of 2015 will hardly affect du Plessis, Bavuma and Elgar, the image of the side collapsing like nine pins remains tough to ignore.

How they play and raise their game against spin will be keenly watched, and how they mould themselves according to situations with the help of the fresh legs will decide which way the series will turn.

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