South Africa need to overcome fear of getting out: Daryll Cullinan

NAGPUR: Everything went right for South Africa in One-dayers and Twenty20 series. Whatever they did, worked. The Tests have been a different story. They are struggling against the Indian spinners. Their lack of confidence was evident in the manner they played the Indian spinners in the Bangalore Test, on a wicket which did not offer much turn.
Former South Africa batsman Daryll Cullinan feels that South African batsmen need to overcome the fear of spin.“There are a lot of things on their minds. They look to be in fear of getting out. They have ot to overcome that fear and defend a lot better. They have to rotate the strike. (Ravichandran) Ashwin is a good bowler but he is not (Anil) Kumble. I think they perhaps read too much into spin, read too much into pitches. They have to be lot more confident in terms of their defence,” Cullinan told TOI from Kimberley.
Hashim Amla and Faf Du Plesis’s poor form has been a huge worry. “The ability to get on top of the spinners will depend a lot on the experience of Amla and Du Plesis. They have to support AB (De Villiers). They desperately need to get some runs. If that starts to happen, everything will fall into place. The batting line-up upfront is inexperienced and that’s why they need to get their batting order right,” he said.
Cullinan feels in-form AB De Villiers should bat at No.3. “I think AB De Villiers should bat at No. 3. It’s a huge disappointment for me that our big player is hiding in the middle order. He has got to bat upfront and lead the batting. Throughout his career, de Villiers has batted in the middle order, which is the easy option. In One-day cricket too, he bats too low. In Tests, he floats at No. 4 or 5. His natural position should be No.3. Unfortunately for South Africa, the best players are running scared and not prepared to take the pressure. He should take the pressure and not run away from it. He is the man in form; he is scoring runs and looking in extremely good touch,” said Cullinan, who also had a short coaching stint during the Indian Cricket League.

“Du Plesis is not in form, so he should bat at No. 5. There’s no harm in playing Bavuma at No. 6 because he is a good player of spin. Duminy, if he doesn’t get runs now, his Test career is over. Duminy is a huge disappointment in Test cricket. If he doesn’t score in the next two Tests, he must go. He plays because he can bowl a bit. But you need to support your top three batsmen. I think South Africa have a long tail. Dane Vilas isn’t a quality Test batsman,” he said.
South Africa’s premier pacer Dale Steyn continues to recover from a groin injury, but remains a doubtful starter for the Nagpur Test. Cullinan feels Merchant de Lange’s pace can do the job for the Proteas. “De Lange is a big bloke. I don’t know if Steyn gets himself fit in time. Injuries can happen but it’s a long break. I think De Lange, if bowls well and quickly, might be a blessing in disguise. Morkel, De Lange, Rabada can bowl quickly. They have to use the short bowl more aggressively.
“There is this myth about Indian wickets being flat for pace bowling. When you play in places like England, South Africa and Australia, short ball goes over your head generally. It’s easy to play short bowling in those places because of bounce. In India, short ball at pace comes at very uncomfortable height – around your chest or neck. I would only bowl two lengths in India, back of the length and short with occasional full ball to drive,” said the 48-year-old.