Opening batsmen will have a huge role to play in India as they will have the responsibility of providing their teams with a flying start while the ball is still hard and new. Scoring tends to become difficult on Indian tracks once the ball loses its shine and the spinners come on, hence making the role of the openers very important indeed. South Africa are blessed with two openers who complement each other very well and both of them are going through a purple patch which makes it extremely difficult for the bowlers to contain them.
Hashim Amla
There is not a much calmer figure in world cricket at the moment than Hashim Amla. When his immense ability is combined with his zen-like temperament, there is little that the opposition captain can do to dislodge him. Wristy flicks and powerful square drives are his trademark shots and he plays spin extremely well using his feet to unsettle the line and length of the slower bowlers. Powerful off both back and front foot, with the ability to play on both sides of the wicket, India has been always a favourite place for Amla as he has scored tonnes of runs here in the past in all formats of the game.
He will be a very important component of the South African ammunition since his ability to play spin exquisitely will be a huge positive for them in India.
Impact Rating – 8/10
Quinton de Kock
Quinton de Kock first shot to limelight as a teenager when he grabbed the headlines for South Africa in the U19 World Cup in 2012. He was their highest run scorer and was called up for international duty the very next year. Since then, barring a small phase where he was out of form, he has been a regular in the South African team.
He is a very attacking left handed bat and likes going after the bowlers and making big runs. He made a big contribution in their 3-2 ODI win over India in India making 2 centuries against a hapless Indian attack. He is in smashing form at the moment having slammed 138* in 96 balls and 135 in 117 balls against the English in the current ODI series. Like Amla, he has the complete game and is strong all around the wicket. He might have a small weakness against spin but then he has scored 5 ODI tons against India so that might just be a notion and not entirely true. He is a fine player who already has 10 ODI hundreds in only 55 matches!
Impact Rating – 8.5/10
South Africa will look up to these two to provide quick starts and provide a solid launching pad from where their big hitters like De Villiers and Miller can capitalize and launch a massive attack in the middle overs. The left hand, right hand combination will prove to be a handful and any team which has to do well against the Protea team will have to make solid plans to dislodge them early else they will have no chance in the match.
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