JOHANNESBURG – It’s been a summer of below-par batting performances for the Proteas, the worst of which have occurred in the white ball formats against India.
In the absence of AB de Villiers for the first half of the one-day international series and Faf du Plessis after game one, the spotlight has fallen on the remaining senior batsmen and, as JP Duminy described it on Sunday night, their performances have been well short of what the team has required.
Hashim Amla struggled in the ODI series making just one half-century in six innings, while Duminy and David Miller barely impacted on that series; Duminy scoring 99 runs in five matches, 51 of those coming in the second match in Cape Town, while Miller scored 107 runs, with a highest knock of 39.
“You are going to go through periods in your career, where you go through slumps, be it a senior player or a new player and unfortunately, throughout the series quite a few senior players have come up short, including myself,” said Duminy.
On the one hand, India deserve credit. They caught South Africa napping by utilising two wrist spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, and their new ball bowling, particularly the efforts of Jasprit Bumrah, has been better than South Africa’s.
Nevertheless players of Duminy’s and Miller’s ilk should be expected to find a way to be successful at international level.
David Miller and other seniors' performances have been well short of requirements. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePics
The pair have played a combined 289 ODIs and 132 T20 internationals; including World Cup matches and World T20 games.
“A lot of us are our finding ourselves, unfortunately at the same time, in slumps.
“And the way India have played, dominating us in this series, a lot of their senior players have stepped up and put in big performances,” Duminy added.
Miller has a very good record at ICC tournaments, but based on the last few weeks it could be argued that he is in fact playing himself out of World Cup contention.
Duminy, having retired from first-class cricket, has thrown all his eggs into the white-ball basket.
While there were questions about desire and commitment following the 28-run defeat to the Indians in the opening T20 on Sunday, to see Duminy on the field is to witness a player fully engaged and determined. With the bat, he is just not producing the desired results, which is strange given he was among the form players - and arguably carried the Cape Cobras - during the T20 Challenge.
Duminy said perhaps he and Miller can learn from their younger teammates about playing more freely.
“You have to find a way to get back on your feet and fire again. You have to front up, understand that you must put in the big performances,” Duminy said.