Temba Bavuma-led South Africa faces the Rohit Sharma-led India in the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 at the Eden Gardens on 5 November. But before that, Proteas skipper addressed a press conference, where unimpressed by the question from the reporter, he gave a sharp response.
During the press conference, a reporter asked him how his team plans not to ‘choke’ against the table-toppers India.
To this, Bavuma said that the tag may not work for India if they fail to win the tournament even if they have won all 7 matches so far.
ALSO READ: India vs South Africa Live Score Updates
Replying to the question, Bavuma said, as quoted by NDTV Sports, “To choke? I don’t know how to answer that. I think if we come unstuck tomorrow, I don’t think it’ll be a matter of choking. I doubt you would say that about India as well if they come unstuck if they would choke.”
He added, “You got two teams who are in form, coming up against each other and I think it’s just a matter of who breaks first and who’s able to I guess, exploit that moment or that weakness. We understand that there will be pressure moments within the World Cup, moments that we’ve overcome to get to this point, and there will still be more. We’ll deal with them as best as we can. But yeah, I haven’t heard that word come up as of yet in the training.
In the World Cup, the Proteas are on a four-match winning streak, while India have won all their seven matches. Bavuma was optimistic that their team would draw energy from the ‘positive sentiment floating around the team’.
Commenting on India’s bowling attack, Bavuma said, as the news website quoted, “Kuldeep (Yadav) has bowled very well. He’s been taking wickets for them in the middle, in conjunction with (Ravindra) Jadeja. So, they’ve been quite key within that middle phase.”
“I think we’ve played spin quite well as a team over the last couple of years. So, it’ll be a good test for us batters as to how we come up against the challenge of Yadav as well as Jadeja,” he added.
He mentioned that the Proteas will have to showcase their best game to counter the Indian bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami.
“You respect the strength and the threats that they bring. It’s obviously a world-class bowling attack in their condition. We’re going to have to have our A games up come tomorrow,” he said.
India vs South Africa:
Meanwhile, until the report was filed, India had scored 219/2 in 35 overs, with both Virat Kohli (67) and Shreyas Iyer on the crease.
With agency inputs.
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Updated: 05 Nov 2023, 04:47 PM IST
