Proteas seniors are having a ‘dismal’ time against India
T20 stand-in skipper JP Duminy admits the veterans are not pulling their weight as the national cricket team continues a downward spiral.
JP Duminy is not adding value to the Proteas at the moment. (Photo by Gordon Arons/Gallo Images)
Despite all the talk of the Proteas’ depth being stretched to almost breaking point in the current series against India, it’s actually the senior players that continue to let the team down.
It was the case once again in Sunday’s first T20 at the Wanderers.
Faced with the formidable task of chasing 204, South Africa relied on rookies like Reeza Hendricks to keep them in the frame.
Meanwhile, skipper JP Duminy and David Miller contributed 12 runs between them.
It continues a similar trend in the recently concluded ODI series, which the Proteas lost 5-1.
Duminy made 99 runs in five innings and Miller 107 in his five innings.
“We just need to be free,” said Duminy after Sunday’s 28-run loss.
“We just have to play our game and stick to plans. At the end of the day, everyone has a specific game-plan and it’s going to pay off or not.
“You’re going to go through period in your career where there are going to be slumps, be it as a senior player or a rookie.”
Yet the experienced 33-year-old is not oblivious to the veteran’s failures.
“Unfortunately throughout this series, quite a few senior players have come up short,” said Duminy.
“Including myself, it’s been a dismal ODI series for us and now in the T20s as well. We’ve got to find a way to get back up on our feet. That’s all you can do. There’s not much hiding place at this level. You’ve simply got to front up.”
The Proteas weren’t particularly dynamic in the field as well, as evidenced by Farhaan Behardien dropping a sitter from Virat Kohli off Tabraiz Shamsi’s wrist spin.
It’s led to suggestions that the team is now in groove of feeling down and doomed.
And that’s not a good space.
But Duminy is defiant.
“That might be outside opinion but I honestly don’t believe we’re dropping our heads and that our body language is bad,” he said.
“We were pretty good in the field bar the missed opportunities. You’re going to feel down when a missed chance occurs but we were back up after a few deliveries.”
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