India Tests as big as WTC Final: South Africa coach | Cricket News
KOLKATA: South Africa coach Shukri Conrad says the twoTest series against India, starting at the Eden Gardens on Friday, can be compared to the World Test Championship (WTC) final in magnitude.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“I don’t think we’ve had a bigger challenge in my tenure (19 matches as South Africa coach). Of course we had the World Test Championships (WTC) Final, which was massive. I can compare this series with that match,” he said.The importance is not lost on India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate either. “A lot of credit to South Africa, how they have worked in the last 9-10 months and the position they find themselves in the WTC. They have shown that how good a quality team they are by beating Australia in the final,” he said.
‘Super challenging for Gill to play all three formats’Both teams will change gear from white ball to redball cricket and that might need a lot of adjustment, particularly for someone like Shubman Gill, who has been playing without much break in all three formats.Ten Doeschate, however, isn’t too worried, speaking mainly of tactical changes rather than the physical ones. “Thankfully, there isn’t much overlap between formats and moreover, these guys have got used to it,” he said.However, the Dutchman agreed it was “super challenging” for Gill to be playing in all three formats. “There aren’t too many guys around the world who do that. Mentally when you take on such a challenge, you have to allow room for a lot of things. Shubman has been a perfect example of how to go about it.”Ten Doeschate understands well that managing three formats will be a big challenge. However, at this moment, the South Africa Tests are at the top of his concern list. “Given how potent their spin attack is at this moment, this is going to be a real mouth-watering series,” he said.
