It has been quite some time since Vernon Philander has taken Morne Morkel’s place as Dale Steyn’s new-ball partner for South Africa in Test cricket. But the tall and lanky fast bowler has “made peace with it” and is pretty happy to play the supporting role.
"My partnership with Dale is long gone,” Morkel said. “Vernon and Dale are the new guys and I've made peace with that. Those guys have been unbelievable for the team," But the team knows very well that while the Steyn-Philander pair has taken the bulk of wickets this year, Morkel’s role of creating pressure from the other end cannot be discounted.
His contribution will be further more important against India given the bounce on offer at the Wanderers and the fact that he is the fastest bowler in the South African attack. Morkel has his plans in place for the first Test.
"When I come to the Wanderers, I bowl for one dismissal - for the caught behind because I get so much bounce. The most important thing for me is to stick to my strengths. It's always been bouncy and quick here and the margins are a little bit smaller. It will be crucial that we do not get carried away," he said.
As far as India goes, their best Test series in South Africa came in form of a 1-1 draw the last time they toured the country in 2010. Their batting rested on the shoulders of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who have all retired since then.
In his bid to put the current bunch of Indian batsmen under pressure, Morkel pointed out that the visitors will miss the patience and solidity of their predecessors. "They don't have guys like Dravid and Tendulkar who can build the innings. These are players who come out and play attacking shots and we are ready for that.”
Morkel targeted Virat Kohli – India’s most prolific batsman currently in all formats and the man who, in all probability, will bat at No. 4. "Sachin was a guy who could bat time and put you under pressure. Virat is obviously going to slot into that role and he's got some big boots to fill. He is a quality player but there's going to be testing times ahead of him in South Africa.”
The fast bowler, however, picked Cheteshwar Pujara out as the most dependable batsman of India’s current squad. He also had R Ashwin’s recent batting exploits in Test cricket in mind. "Pujara is a good player at No. 3, trying to dig in and play long. Ashwin has been scoring some runs in the back-end. We have to be careful that we don't get too excited polishing off the top-order and then struggle with the tail,” Morkel said.
Continuing with pre-match gamesmanship, Morkel said the fact that India’s only practice match got washed out without a ball, could act as an advantage for the Proteas.
"When I heard the news that the Benoni game was cancelled, I knew it was an advantage for us. The Benoni pitch can be a bit tricky at times and I think it would have been good practice for them. It's a bonus for us that India were stuck with indoors or net practice."
Irrespective of the conditions and opposition, Morkel said he would fall back to the basics of bowling in Test cricket to fulfill his role as the one-change bowler with aplomb. "It doesn’t matter who you play against or where, the top of off stump and the odd bouncer is a winning combination," he said.
