The South African fast bowler Morne Morkel feels that Sachin Tendulkar will be missed by the young Indian test team in the upcoming couple of test matches.
Morkel was talking to the reporters yesterday in Johannesburg about the first test match which is going to start on Wednesday.
When asked about Sachin’s absence, he said, “I think they are going to miss him. He was one of those guys who have the ability to stay at the wicket for hours and put a lot of pressure on the bowling side.”
“The young batsmen who are in the Indian squad at the moment have also got a lot of potential, but, they are quite aggressive by nature. They try to attack the bowling and that was clear in the One Day international series.”
When asked if he thinks that the first game will be a low scoring one, Morkel said, “It’s not necessary. Yes, the surface is bouncy here in Johannesburg and the bowlers are always in with a chance of getting wickets, but, once a batsman gets his eyes in, he gets runs quickly here because the shots can be played on the up and the outfield is pretty fast too. So, you get value for your shots.”
The Indian team definitely has had a tough time on this tour of South Africa so far, but, they can take heart from the fact that their performance at Johannesburg in the past has not been that poor. Seven years ago in 2006, they had secured a test win over South Africa here.
The right arm fast bowler S Sreesanth was the stand out performer for the Indian team in that game as he had dismissed a total of 8 South African players.