If one goes by AB de Villiers, the South African players’ friendships with the Indian players will not affect their ICC World Cup Pool B encounter in Melbourne on Sunday.
A big number of South African players ply their trade in the Indian Premier League, bringing them closer than ever to their Indian counterparts, but the Proteas captain believes the World Cup is the stage to be fierce, not friendly.
“It’s a World Cup. You’re playing for your country, representing South Africa, and they’re obviously representing India. Both nations are very proud cricketing nations, so it’s a matter of really putting it out there on the field and leaving everything out there on the field in order for you to win the game. Friendships are not going to play a role tomorrow. That’s for sure,” de Villiers said on the eve of the match on Saturday.
“Every game we play, we want to win. I can’t tell you now because I don’t know what’s going to happen the next four games we play. Maybe it’s a make or break for us, maybe not, but all I know is that we want to win the game. We’ve prepared in order for us to win this game, and we’re as ready as we can be. We’re just going to go out there and give it our best shot tomorrow.”
South Africa had a few nervous moments in their 62-run win over Zimbabwe in their opener, while India got rid of Pakistan in an impressive way, dominating the match both with bat and ball. However, de Villiers chose to play down India’s 80-run victory. “I’m not too worried about other teams’ results, even though we are part of the whole tournament, and it does influence us. I’ve encouraged the guys not to take part in too much of the other cricket going on. We know India is still the world champions. We know they are an incredible cricket team, so the respect factor is definitely still there, and the respect for us towards them as a cricket team is definitely there.
“Whether they’ve won or lost, it would not have changed a lot in our planning and preparation going into this game.
“We know they’re a very dangerous side, and we’re going to play accordingly and hopefully come out on top tomorrow.”
De Villiers, who holds the record for the fastest ton in ODIs, refused to accept that his team was a bit vulnerable against spin and India’s offspinner R Ashwin could exploit that weakness. “Ashwin is a wonderful bowler. They’ve got some other match winners, as well. We’ve played spin really well over the last five years. In fact, it’s definitely not a weakness of our team. Not saying that Ashwin can’t win them a game tomorrow. We know what he’s all about, and we’ve got respect for him and his abilities as a bowler. But it’s not in the area we’re worried about,” he said.
“We’re just going to go play out there. We know the seamers they have, but all three of their spinners, including right now they have are dangerous players. They’re all dangerous players and they can all turn the game around for India. It’s a matter of just really applying yourself out there, getting used to the conditions, and then when you get yourself and you get a bit of momentum behind you, then to make it count.”
When asked whether he will play legspinner Imran Tahir against a team that plays spin so well, de Villiers said, “He’s been one of our best bowlers over the last two years. There’s no way that, unless there’s some funny injury over the next 24 hours, that he’s not going to play. I see him as a match winner against any team in the world. It’s a matter of bowling him at the right times, and that’s my job, to make sure he bowls at the right times in order to give him the best opportunity to win us games, and that’s what he’s best at doing. I can’t see him not playing tomorrow.”
