India led by Virat Kohli is capable of anything, says Dale Steyn

You have seen the Indians in action in the home series (against South Africa), now they are in England. What do you make of the Indian batsmen?

They got better in the series against South Africa. That’s why they won the last Test match at Johannesburg. In the one-day games (short-format) they were a real force to reckon with; it doesn’t matter where they play (ODIs and Twenty20s) in the world, they are really a good side. That’s a beautiful thing about India, they got such a big pool of players to call upon. If somebody gets injured, the replacements are generally pretty good. They have Dinesh Karthik up there now. India has a good side, it’s going to be an interesting five Test series. I won’t make any predictions. But I think the advantage probably lies with England. India is becoming a very good touring team I think. But if I have to put my money, it’s going to be England; it’s going to be tight through.

All five Tests in the second half of summer — August to September? The pitches are likely to be drier and all that because of heat …

I think it’s massively dry, lot of runs are going to be scored. But England are used to such conditions. Home series generally go away with the home team.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad will lead the English pace attack. How important will they be for England in those conditions?

If the ball swings, they are going to play a massive role but if it doesn’t swing then how are they going to get someone like Kohli out, Shikhar opens the batting and KL Rahul they treated themselves in South Africa, which I consider is the hardest place to play cricket. Doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, you can prepare a green top and it will seam and bounce. They came to SA and just got better. It could be true in England too. It’s going to be a high scoring series but England’s bowlers are probably just a little bit better than the Indians and that will be the difference.

You bowled to Cheteshwar Pujara in the County. How do you see Pujara in the upcoming Test series?

One thing I know about Pujara is that he likes to bat for long hours. If the wickets are flat in England, India are going to have that source on whom they can rely on. He will bat long for them and it will be tough for England to get him out. Form is difficult. You can’t predict form, it is up and down for any player.

Everybody is looking forward to see how Virat Kohli performs in England. How do you see that?

I think he performs all the time. Doesn’t matter where he is playing. He performs anywhere in the world. I am a South African, let’s be honest with you. I am sitting with you, I have no real interest in what’s happening. But I am interested when we are playing a team because like, if we were playing India in December. I would have one eye on the series. Quite heavily. Knowing what I would be competing against. But, now that I know we are not playing against England, any time soon or India any time soon. It’s there, but I don’t have as much attention on it as I would.

India played their hearts out while playing against South Africa a few months back, can India play the same way in England?

If the team is led by Virat, this Indian team is capable of anything. I know Virat pretty well and he is very determined character. And five-Test matches is going to be good for one team. If one team gets on a roll, the other team might just get blown away. By the third Test match, they might not even rock up for the fourth and fifth. If I know Virat like how I know, it is going to be a hard fought five Test matches. But the England bowlers are a little more skilled than the Indians and that’s where the difference will be. It’s the tipping point.

How will the Indian pace attack do, minus Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the early part of the series?

I didn’t even know that. I think they’ll have to find some really good replacements. India do rely heavily on their spinners, and they do a great job in One-day cricket. However, in Test cricket, when the wickets are flatter, especially in England and in seamer-friendly conditions. At at the moment, the wickets are pretty flat and there hasn’t been a lot of turn, especially in the four-dayers in county cricket. So, they’re going to rely on their fast bowlers. And if they don’t have them, then they’re in trouble.

You have been away from cricket for some time. Next year is the World Cup. Are you looking forward to it?

I think one day cricket trying to get to that World Cup. If you look at batting line-up, our top six have played almost 1,000 games. But look at our lower half from eight to eleven who are currently playing have not even played 150 games. You need to draw experience from somewhere, I hope that will be my trump card when the selection comes to the World Cup. I may not necessarily play all the time. But I think just being there I will help my experience. I am hoping after World Cup, I don’t see myself playing white ball cricket for South Africa. By the time next WC comes I will be 40. I think there is no reason to be playing after the World Cup. When it comes to Test cricket, I would like to play as long as possible I have finally come out of a cloud of injury.

Coming into the discussion of home advantage, do you think that ICC should do away with the toss rule?

There’s been a bit of talk. I think there have been teams for it and there are teams against it. The teams that are against it are lot higher up in the ICC rankings than some of the other teams. So it might not happen. But I think if you are going by the traditional ways, then that is just, I can’t even think of better word, a good word to use right now... thats just crap. You know, because WG Grace would be rolling is his grave if he heard there is something called a freehit. You know, a batsman can be out, but he is not out, but still score runs off the ball, because the bowler bowled a no ball. You understand what I am saying? Traditional cricket has gone out of the window. It’s gone. T20 cricket has changed the game. So if someone is sitting there and saying that toss is traditional thing then they are blind. The game has changed so much and they need to keep up with the time. I think England are doing something well where the toss is gone in County cricket. 

(Dale Steyn is a GoPro athlete)