India’s ace-spinner Ravi Ashwin has turned out to be one of the biggest match-winners for the Indian cricket team in the last few years. He is currently in a red-hot avatar and is expected to play a crucial role in the upcoming 3-match Test series against South Africa. However, the South African Test captain Dean Elgar isn’t too worried about Ashwin.
Ashwin, who is known for his genius cricketing brains and the tactical preparations, has been breaking records and creating new ones off-lately. He is currently 3rd on the all-time Indian Test wicket-takers with 427 wickets and is only eight more wickets to go past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 wickets. But because of the pace-friendly conditions in the South Africa, Ashwin hasn’t really done much in that nation.
Recently, in an interview, the Proteas opener heaped praises on Ashwin but he didn’t seem to be intimidated by his legacy. Dean Elgar feels that his team isn’t going to solely focus on Ashwin, during the upcoming three-match Test series. Talking about the same, he said:
“India is a good side, they tick all the boxes. Ashwin is a quality bowler, probably one of the best off-spinners India has ever produced. We will be mindful of that, it will be a challenge to compete against them,”
He added:
“I do not think Ravichandran Ashwin has had much success in South Africa which is okay for us. You cannot really compare to the success he has had against our batters in India because conditions are so different. We have to focus on our game plan, each player has been working on his individual game plan. It is important not to focus on just one player in their line-up,”
However, the Proteas red-ball skipper also lauded India’s bowlers and felt that the Indian side has an immensely improved bowling line-up. However, he also said that his side will feel a lot more familiar with the home conditions and is hopeful of his tam taking the home advantage. He said:
“India has an immensely improved bowling line-up. As I mentioned earlier, we will be mindful of the fact that we will be up against a very good bowling attack. Being in South Africa, we will feel a lot more accustomed to our own conditions. Hopefully, we can use that to our advantage,”
