No panic for Proteas ahead of second Test against Pakistan

Rather than chuck the baby out with the bath water, the Proteas have focused more on smaller changes to their approach and strategy ahead of the second Test against Pakistan, as they aim to square the series.

Last week’s 93-run loss in Lahore hurt — as it should, especially after they’d won their last 11 Tests in a row — but since arriving in Rawalpindi, for the second Test that starts on Monday, attention has been on making incremental improvements.

“We competed really well,” opener Ryan Rickelton said of the first Test. “90 runs wasn’t a devastatingly massive loss in my opinion.”

South Africa certainly weren’t outplayed and they caused Pakistan some anxiety in the fourth innings, especially when Rickelton and Dewald Brevis shared a partnership of 73 for the fifth wicket.

Great discipline with the ball, especially in Pakistan’s first innings, will be one area that the Proteas are giving major attention to in their preparations for the Rawalpindi Test. South Africa felt they gave Pakistan 50 to 100 runs too many in the first innings in Lahore, Rickelton acknowledged. “Especially that first session on day one, that was the difference.”

After claiming the early wicket of Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan scored 107 runs before lunch, providing a solid foundation for themselves, with South Africa’s bowlers all struggling to find the right lines, lengths and for the spinners the ideal pace to bowl on a first day sub-continent pitch.

Though not in a position to outline any changes to the starting XI from the first Test, Rickelton hinted at one option the Proteas are weighing up for Monday. South Africa’s batters have been discussing how to deal with the reverse-swinging ball, which Shaheen Shah Afridi used so effectively on the fourth day in Lahore to claim four wickets.

With Keshav Maharaj due to return in place of Prenelan Subrayen, another change to consider is the addition of an extra quick bowler to assist Kagiso Rabada, who did get the ball to reverse in Pakistan’s second innings at the Gaddafi Stadium.

The two options in the squad for such a role are Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch and if one of them does come in, then Tristan Stubbs, who has averaged nine in his last five Tests, is the batter likely to be omitted.

Meanwhile the batters have also had lengthy discussions about how to deal with the opposition bowler’s best ball.

“We don’t want to give into the cliche about it being respectable to get out in a certain way,” said Rickelton. “We rather want to look to find a way (to score or just stay at the crease).”

Rickelton batted for more than six hours across his two innings in Lahore and set one example for how to cope on a pitch where the variable bounce was the toughest aspect to manage, he said.

“If the wicket is as bad as it sometimes can be, it’s a matter of time. You have to find that balance between attacking and defending; we’ll train hard on that (before the match) and make peace with how the game is going to go.”