South Africa captain Faf du Plessis may send teammate at toss in Ranchi Test
Faf du Plessis, who has now lost nine successive tosses in Asia, is likely to skip the toss in the third and final Test against India in Ranchi and send one of his teammates instead, the Proteas skipper said at the pre-match press conference.
In Short
- Faf du Plessis is hoping for a change in fortunes for himself with the toss in particular in Ranchi Test
- Faf du Plessis lost both tosses in the previous two Tests which Kohli won and opted to bat on both occasions
- du Plessis wants his batsmen to learn from the Indian batters and make most of their first innings
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis is hoping for a change in fortunes for himself with the toss in particular which is why he may not walk out to the middle with his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli before the match on Saturday morning in Ranchi to flip the coin.
Faf du Plessis lost both tosses in the previous two Tests which Kohli won and opted to bat on both occasions. India put up first-innings totals in excess of 500 in both games and took the game away from the Proteas in the first two days itself in Vizag and Pune.
Du Plessis, who has now lost nine successive tosses in Asia, is therefore, contemplating skipping the toss and sending one of his teammates instead.
"Probably will [send] somebody else to the toss tomorrow, I'll give you that, because my record so far hasn't been great, and then, yeah, if we put big runs on the board in the first innings, that's where we need to start," du Plessis said at the pre-match press conference in Ranchi on Friday.
The Proteas have not been able to make use of their first innings -- barring the Vizag Test where they managed to score 431 in reply to India's 502.
India, on the other hand, have dominated by getting big runs in their first innings. In the first Test, the hosts scored 502 runs while they put on 601 runs in Pune.
And, du Plessis wants his batsmen to learn from the Indian batters and make most of their first innings in the final Test.
"We need to put big runs on the board in the first innings," said du Plessis. "When you get runs in the first innings anything from there is possible. For us, first innings runs will be vital and then anything could happen in the second innings."
South Africa have already lost the series and are trailing 0-2 against the number one Test side but will be looking to play for pride and end the series on a high at the JSCA International Complex Stadium in Ranchi.
But it will be easier said than done against a team which has been absolutely dominating in home conditions in the last two years.
"It's important for us to understand that we have to fight our way out of these last two losses. We can't expect things just to happen. They won't happen, because India is a very powerful team at the moment.
"As I said, their record at home is amazing. So is ours - I mean our record at home is just as good. So for us, it's just about trying to keep doing the things well, keep practising hard, keep doing the processes as well as you can, and then hopefully it's just a matter of time and you start winning again," du Plessis said.