Allan Donald Interview: Kohli-Rohit, Bumrah, South African mindset and more
Dubbed as the ‘final frontier’ for the Indian cricket team, the world of cricket is all set to be hooked to the two-match Test series against South Africa, starting with the Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team have a chance to script history by winning their first-ever Test series in the Rainbow nation but will have a resilient South African outfit. Ahead of the series opener, Allan Donald, South African pace legend, also known as ‘White Lightning’ during his playing days, in an exclusive interview with RevSportz, talked about the showpiece Test series, the Indian pace attack, the class of Jasprit Bumrah, ‘legends’ Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, South Africa’s mindset and more.
Here are the excerpts:
Subhayan Chakraborty: Is it the best chance for India to win the Test series and script history?
Allan Donald: Yes, I do. I do think this is the best chance for India to to create some history. Although I will say that any South African team in their own backyard is a very tough prospect. I read yesterday that the strongest possible South African attack is considered for this Test match coming up in Centurion. It will be great to see them all in action because Rabada is coming back from a foot injury and Ngidi from an ankle injury. I believe that they’re all good to go. But we’ll see when the toss goes up whether they’re going to be in there.
But look, to come back to India, I just think that they’ve got such a settled team. Such a very good settled Test team home and away. Obviously, at home it’s a bit different with all spin. But yeah, this attack that they have built over the last five-six years and where they are now. It’s a great shame Shami is out. I’m a massive fan of him. I don’t think there is a bowler today that has got a better release when the seam comes down. He’s going to be very much missed, it’s a great shame. But then you’ve got Bumrah, Siraj and the rest. You know, It’s going to be a fantastic prospect. The Indian batting lineup will enjoy batting here. The ball coming on to the bat, the scoring rate in Centurion will be at a good rate if the bowlers get loose there, but yeah, it just makes for a fantastic series.
Subhayan: Jasprit Bumrah last played a Test match back in June 2022. Will it be a challenge for Bumrah to get straight into it?
Donald: Yes, or no. I had a great chat with him actually, after one of the World Cup games. It was so good to hear that he has a very passionate love for Test cricket. He loves Test cricket. That’s awesome to hear. He loves the mystery of it. He loves the creativity of it. You could say that he might find his way a little bit into the Test match but it won’t take him long. He is too good. He needs to be allowed that freedom just to settle into it. These guys like Bumrah, Starc and Cummins, when they come back from injury, it just doesn’t take them too long to find their mojo. I’ve got no doubt that Jasprit will be a great factor like he always is in Test mode. I just love his skill. He’s just phenomenal wherever he goes and you know, I work for the DP World Lions now and working with some of our youngsters, they all talk about Bumrah, they love Bumrah. He’s the worldwide household name. He’s going to have a massive impact on the series. There’s no question.
Subhayan: What makes Bumrah such a special bowler?
Donald: He (Bumrah) is actually quite unique. There isn’t any bowler in the world that has got a release point as late as his, others are sort of upright but he’s just more in front of himself a little bit and then he’s got this amazing wrist turnover, that he can do anything with a ball whether it’s swinging it out or swinging in. It’s fascinating when we had this discussion in the World Cup when he said that one thing that he still needs to figure out is how to be more patient with a right-hander by bringing the ball out and lining the batsman up a little bit more. He says he bowls those balls too often, which is a little bit predictable so he knows exactly what he needs to be better at. But I think that’s what makes batsmen very edgy because you just don’t know what is coming next. He uses the crease very well, he goes up and wide of the crease, mid of the crease, close, the angles on the crease. That is very unsettling for a batsman because if he’s swinging it out to the right-hander with the new ball, that’s very difficult to defend. I just love the outright skill this guy has. It’s just lovely to watch.
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EXCLUSIVE: Dive into the #INDvSA series with Allan Donald!
In this exclusive interview with @CricSubhayan, the South African pace legend shares insights on India vs South Africa Test series.
From Bumrah’s return to Rohit and Kohli’s potential final tour, Donald predicts a… pic.twitter.com/90EY9EAJi8
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) December 25, 2023
Subhayan: With Anrich Nortje out, Gerald Coetzee is being tipped as a crucial pacer for South Africa in the series. Having watched him closely and worked with him, how big a prospect he is for the Proteas?
Donald: Look, he has been talked about for a while now and I had the privilege of being the head coach for him at the Knights and I saw this firebrand coming through and he had a lot of questions. He wanted to play very quickly for South Africa and I wanted to pull him back from that a little bit and focus on doing well for our team. But he has arrived. This kid has now announced himself at the Cricket World Cup. And of course, he signing with Mumbai Indians is a huge break for him. He is going to be the tearaway. He’s going to be that guy – the veins will pop out of his head. When he takes a wicket, he loves that. Extremely passionate for the headband and if he gets the ball, things will happen. I think that he will be very aggressive. He’ll have a license to be aggressive. He will have to set fields and that’s where he has got better tactically.
I think he thrives on bowling to a Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. They love to take on the short ball so I think will be very interesting contest to have because he loves getting involved in those contests. It’ll be fire with fire. It was my job always to go after players like Brian Lara. The moment he walked to the crease, the ball came to me and it was just a license to just go and take him down. And I think that’s what Gerald Coetzee’s job will be, to be the battering ram for for South Africa. He will be thrown the ball to ruffle a few feathers. I’m so pleased for him. He’s a fantastic prospect. The way he has arrived on the scene, he has just made the world set-up and take note that this young firebrand is not here to be messed with. It’s going to be awesome fun when he takes the ball.
Subhayan: This series is also being tipped as perhaps the last Test tour of South Africa for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli…what are your expectations from the duo?
Donald: They will be motivated to come and make a statement here in South Africa. Virat, I know how his mind works, having spent time with him at RCB, there is no doubt in my mind that he would come here to go all out. If this is their last tour of South Africa, and no one knows, then I think that they will want to come here and really ram it down the throats of South African cricket so it needs no motivation. Virat is a highly motivated guy anyway. But no, those two guys will be coming here, if it is their last tour of South Africa, to go out with a massive bang. The fans in South Africa, the Indian support that they will get…there are a lot of South Africans who are fans of those two watching them in the IPL and World Cups. There’s no doubt that the threat will come from those two, the leadership will come from those two. I think it’ll be fun to watch. Those guys are absolute legends of the game. The legends of Indian cricket. They will come here with one statement in mind – to go after South Africa. That’s the mindset anyway. That’s how they work. That’s where their greatness lies. Absolute professional attitude and mindset will take over.
Subhayan: What is the secret behind being a successful pacer in South Africa?
Donald: The venue of the first Test is probably one of the bounciest wickets in South Africa, SuperSport Park. The lengths, more than anything else, will be a crucial factor. You’re talking about six-and-a-half, five-and-a-half-metre length, that’s where you need to be. Because there’s a lot of caught-behinds if you look at the stats, a lot of the dismissals come behind the wickets. It is the tradition of the place. If anything, it got a little bit quicker over the time. It will be a very good Test pitch, you’ll be able to score and if bowlers get loose here, if you spray in your lengths, you will get punished all day. The use of the new ball and the length is to get people forward. You know, we’ve often seen Dale Steyn and how wonderful the length was, it was almost like a four-metre length. Bumrah and Siraj will be tested to find that length quickly. Cape Town is going to be traditional, it’s going to be flat. It is a very grindy wicket there. I still say it’s a great shame that we don’t play three Tests against India. It really is. I would have loved to see three Test matches, one in Johannesburg or Pretoria, one in Cape Town and Centurion. It’s not often you get them in your backyard and it’s such a spectacle to have them here and there is always a massive buzz. But maybe some other day.
Subhayan: You have had memorable battles with some of the legends of the game. Against India, bowling to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and others. Dravid is now here as the head coach. What are your memories of playing against them?
Allan Donald: Yeah, the second time that they came, we played them in Durban. That Test match was over in less than three days. And then of course, my recollection of bowling one of the best balls to one of the greatest players ever to play the game, nipping through the gate and hitting the top of off stump…that was a great feeling. Even the last few days, we were sitting in the dressing room and we were talking about the Indian series way back and then when we played in Durban when that pitch was so quick, and the lineup that India had with Dravid. I think my frustration came with a Dravid in a one-day final, it was where I overstepped the line a little bit. Well, not a little bit, just a lot, a lot to try and upset him and try and get him out. We’ve had some giggles and shake of the hands in the World Cup.
Those were just enormous players. There’s a few others that spring to mind that were just outstanding, Ganguly as well. He was leading that team at that stage and yeah, it was a great privilege. It was a great privilege doing battle against them, especially the little guy (Sachin Tendulkar). I’ve got so much respect for him. You don’t get a better human being than him. He’s such a wonderful person and and what he’s done for Indian cricket over such a long, long time and a lot of people want to emulate him. A lot of people want to get those records, but will it ever be? I even said that if there’s one person that I think would get close, it is Virat Kohli. But yeah, I think that if the intention of those two greats to come to South Africa, and this is the last tour, we better enjoy the next 10 days of Test cricket with those guys in our country, that’s for sure.
Subhayan: Allan Donald’s prediction for the two-match Test series between India and South Africa…
Donald: The South African mindset, and I know what motivates them, even if they are underdogs. If people say they’re underdogs, they will still think they are better than the opposition. That’s why, it’s so tough to beat them. South Africans, with their mentality, especially in their backyard, they just know how to win here. We’ve got a thing called ‘refuse to lose’ and I think that for me, is a South African thing, it’s a thing that sets in deep. You would want to say that India would probably be favourites for this series, but I predict a 1-0 for South Africa, here in South Africa. In Cape Town, it will be tough for both teams. I think that might spin a little bit, not a lot because South Africa won’t allow the Indian spinners to get into the series.
Also Read: India Face Trial by South African Pace in Centurion