\u201cTest series is a different ball game and likes of Ishant Sharma would have a lot to prove,\u201d says former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. He believes that apart from the youngbowlers, batsmen will also be under scanner as most of them would be touring South Africa for the first time.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t give much food for thought to the recent performances of youth brigade of India-A who have been doing well and many of the players of that team might play in the series in December and January.<\/p>\n
Ganguly was quoted by Deccan Herald<\/strong> saying, “No doubt, India A are playing well in the on-going South Africa series. But it will be a different ball game altogether when the actual Test series begins. We cannot deny the fact that we are playing good cricket these days. But things will be difficult than what it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed on the fact how young bowlers would have to burn the midnight oil on such a crucial tour. Ganguly also hailed Sachin Tendulkar who would be playing his 200th Test when he will be on this pivotal tour.<\/p>\n “It’s going to be a huge achievement…I don’t think anybody can ever match that feat (of playing 200 Tests),” he added.<\/p>\n He was quoted by DNA<\/strong> saying, “The performance of our fast bowlers will be the key in South Africa. The conditions are ideal for pace bowling. The current crop of Indian bowlers are a good lot, so it’s imperative for them to maintain their rhythm and do well in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Richard Hadlee is also looking forward to see how these young Indian pacers, especially Ishant Sharma, would perform in South Africa. He said Ishant has to be more consistent when it comes to picking up wickets.<\/p>\n Recent reports in The Hindu quoted Hadlee saying, \u201cHe surely made an impact when he came on the scene. I expected a lot more from him. I don\u2019t know what it is, maybe the lengths he bowls. But something is not right. And something is not working.\u201d<\/p>\n Though he feels that Zaheer Khan should be brought back into the squad because of his brilliant swing bowling which can provide India breakthrough from nowhere.<\/p>\n In the report published in Hindustan Times,<\/strong> \u201cHe\u2019s a fine bowler. Zaheer can change the pace so subtly. He can swing the ball both ways. He had some real aggression about him. He gets wickets out of nowhere really. Suddenly something happens, and he picks up a wicket. I do hope that he beats his fitness issues and makes a comeback. He\u2019s a quality bowler. And India could really use him on overseas trips,\u201d said Hadlee, of the out-of-favour left-arm paceman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cTest series is a different ball game and likes of Ishant Sharma would have a lot to prove,\u201d says former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. He believes that apart from the youngbowlers, batsmen will also be under scanner as most of them would be touring South Africa for the first time. He didn\u2019t give much food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[521,556,544,569],"class_list":["post-16194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-from-the-newspapers","tag-ishant-sharma","tag-sachin-tendulkar","tag-sourav-ganguly","tag-zaheer-khan"],"yoast_head":"\n