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Full-strength South Africa an even match for India, says Proteas


Bangladeshpost
Published : 18 May 2019 08:38 PM | Updated : 31 Aug 2020 08:15 AM

South Africa meet India again in the World Cup, with hopefully their key players intact and a greater context at their disposal, and Proteas cricketers are looking forward to the contest, Cricbuzz reports. "I'm looking forward to India," Lungi Ngidi said. "When they came here, they had a good series against us. So in my mind I believe we owe them one. It would be a very exciting game for me. I'm sure it will be for all the guys as well."

"They're a great team, don't take that away from them. But when they had a good series here, we were missing a few players. With those guys back, we'll see how it evens out a bit," he added. "We are well aware that they are probably under a lot more pressure than we are; they are hosts, they're considered to be favourites and that's an advantage for us," Ngidi said of England. "We obviously want to win and if we do, it would send a massive statement, if it's not a win it doesn't throw us out of the tournament."

"Since I started this journey in international cricket, it's something that was always brought to my attention: that there's a World Cup coming, and am I looking to be within that squad? And now I'm here, and there's no turning back now. Nothing but excitement going there, and it would be a dream come true to win that World Cup and bring it back to South African soil."

Ngidi adds that it makes things simpler. The focus will now be on picking wickets all the time, which isn't such a bad thing for a bowler. "People like to see high totals, so they will probably prepare wickets as best as they can to see that. We are not too worried about a flat pitch, on any given day (the opposition) could be three down quickly and then the wicket won't seem so flat," Ngidi said. "One thing that we usually talk about is that the conditions determine how you bowl on the day. It will determine the lengths, the different balls you bowl.

"Ottis (Gibson) has told all of us we need to be ready at any time to bowl. The way we play is to try and take wickets at any stage of the game, it's the only way to keep teams to a low total. That gives us the best chance of winning," he added. "In our armoury, we've got bowlers who can adapt to any conditions that you throw at us. So it's very exciting for us, going over there and you hear of high totals so you know that it won't be easy.