Now we have match-winning spinners, says Du Plessis

Pace may have been their biggest strength all this while, but South African Twenty20 skipper Faf du Plessis on Thursday said the Proteas now possess a potent spin force as well after the emergence of Imran Tahir.

Recently Indian great Sachin Tendulkar had said that Tahir can be an impact player for South Africa on their long India tour and du Plessis endorsed the view ahead of the first Twenty20 international here on Friday.

“I suppose they know we have got spinners who can win us games. Imran has proven it right across the world that he has changed his game, specifically with the white ball format. He has changed the way we have played in <g data-gr-id="31">white ball</g> format. We have always relied on pace to strike first and now our success in One day team or T20 team is heavily on his (Tahir) shoulders,” du Plessis said at the pre-match press conference.

“He is number two in the world in ODIs. It’s nice to know we have also got a weapon in spinning department. JP (Duminy) also has had success in T20 cricket, he gets wickets all the time. Then we have <g data-gr-id="38">young</g> spinner in Eddie <g data-gr-id="35">Leie</g>, almost tapping into Imran’s knowledge, so confident our spinning options,” the visiting captain said. Tahir went wicketless in the <g data-gr-id="36">warm up</g> game in <g data-gr-id="37">Palam</g> but he contributed in the series against New Zealand and was also among wickets in County cricket in August. He has taken 25 wickets in 16 T20s.

Talking about on Friday’s match, du Plessis hoped that the wicket will be ideal for T20 cricket even as it looks “damp” underneath as of now.

“But I think with two days of sun to shine on it, hopefully, there will be a lot in it for the batsmen, lots of runs but also good carry. <g data-gr-id="40">Hopefully</g> we can have a game full of runs, plenty of boundaries will be scored. It’s different than what we practiced in Delhi, probably the quickest wickets I have played in India,” he said. Du Plessis was worried about the dew factor and to counter that they practiced with wet balls. “It came as a big surprise when we came for practice last night. The dew was there at half past six. But it will be pretty much same for both the teams. Dew is never a nice thing for a bowling team or fielding team because the ball gets slippery. The wet ball takes away a little bit of challenge from the spinners because it does not spin much,” he said.