Former South Africa batters Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis have placed the onus on their current Test batters to give India a fight in the forthcoming two-Test series starting November 14. While Amla was of the view the bowling attacks of both teams are "pretty close," Smith said South Africa's top-three batters have to step up. Amla went on to say that the presence of some inexperienced batters in their line-up could turn out to be a blessing for the visitors as they won't be carrying the "baggage" of previous tours, given South Africa haven't won a Test in India since 2010 and a series since 2000.
On their last two tours of India, in 2015 and 2019, South Africa's batters struggled against India spinners, but this time the opening Test in Kolkata is expected to assist seam bowling, and offer bounce and reverse swing before it starts to turn from around the halfway mark.
"I'm hoping that with the first Test in Kolkata, it's generally quite a good place to bat, get good value for runs," Smith said at an SA20 event in Mumbai. "And it's a stadium that especially if it's full, will really make the South Africans motivated to do well in. I think it's crucial on these types of tours that you start well. If you get behind the game in the subcontinent, it's very difficult to fight your way back. And the batters in particular are going to really have to step up.
"The South African team will definitely be preparing for how they're going to handle spin. But getting off to a solid start in your top three that can lay a platform for you [is crucial], there's nothing worse than if you go two or three down and then the spinners come on and you're against the game already.
"I think South Africa arrived here with a decent bowling attack, especially in the spin department. [Keshav] Maharaj and [Simon] Harmer can definitely do damage, they can control the game and they have the ability to turn the ball, which is wicket-taking options with spin, and then to see how [Kagiso] Rabada and the likes handle reverse swing. But I think there's good spin options for Temba [Bavuma] to use as well."
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Du Plessis concurred with Smith that the confidence gained from having runs under the belt early will serve South Africa well and help start the series on a high note.
"I feel generally your best chance at having success here (in India) is when you start the series well, especially as a batting unit, get a bit of confidence that you've got runs under the belt and you almost put the conditions a little bit out of your head," du Plessis said. "Then the rest of the series definitely will feel easier versus starting and you're under pressure and it's low score, low score, you lose the first Test, ball's spinning a bit more. Then it's that expectation that this is going to be a hard tour for the team."
South Africa arrived in India after recently levelling the two-Test series 1-1 in Pakistan, four months after they won the ICC World Test Championship at Lord's in June. Their last tour of the subcontinent before that was when they played two Tests in Bangladesh a year ago and won the series 2-0.
"The guys have played really well in the subcontinent in the last 12 or 14 months when they've gone to Pakistan, they've played well," du Plessis said. "So I'm expecting the wickets to be very much suited for spinning conditions. But it seems like the guys have really worked hard on it. But it will, very much, I think the first Test will be a big stepping stone for us, whether we're going to do well or we're going to struggle."
South Africa's spin attack for this tour comprises Maharaj, Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy, who took a combined 33 wickets on their recent tour of Pakistan. According to Amla, that, along with how the South African batters tackled spin in Pakistan, was the best preparation for the tour of India.
"…And the way he (Harmer) bowled, you see the confidence in his body, so I think he's going to be a real handful," Amla said. "And thankfully, he's got Keshav Maharaj at the other end, who himself is probably one of the best left-arm spinners in the world. So it's quite a formidable duo and we're hoping that that will be good for South Africa and they do well.
"From a bowling-attack perspective, I think the teams are pretty close. I think it's the batting and the ability to get bigger runs on the board to allow your bowlers to exert that pressure is very important. And I think that's going to be one of the biggest tests for both teams, is getting enough runs to allow your bowlers to win the game for you. The South African team have [has] quite a few inexperienced guys who have come to India for the first time, and I think that might also be an advantage for them, because you come to a new place where you haven't played before, you have a lot less baggage of what happened before in previous tours and you come with a fresh mind."
Out of the eight in South Africa's squad who haven't played a Test in India before are frontline batters Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne. If the likes of de Zorzi and Rickelton can replicate their performances from the Pakistan tour - where each of them averaged over 50 - their lower order and bowling attack will be more than pleased to cash in on a good start.