5 South-African IPL stars who will play a crucial role against India

South Africa’s IPL stars are here again...this time, playing against India

After a brief period of no cricketing action, India are scheduled to play South Africa over a period of 2 months, where they shall battle it out in all the three formats of the game. The hosts are very much aware of the fact that their opponents find India as a ‘home away from home’. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has given the South African players enough exposure as they spent a good 1.5 months playing on Indian pitches and in Indian conditions every year.

Let me help you recall those 5 South African IPL stars and provide an explanation, backed by stats, as to why Indian players should be especially wary of them.

1. AB de Villiers - ‘Vazir’, on a Chessboard, is the strongest of all the Chess pieces. AB de Villiers is the ‘Vazir’ of South Africa. The Proteas ODI skipper is super quick on his feet and every shot is executed with such charisma that it also enthralls the spectators of the opposition team.

AB’s approach to batting is at times unorthodox but has more often than not worked in his favour. In fact, many around the cricketing world are taking a cue from his cricketing shots. On the field, De Villiers gives his team the best combination of safe hands and fast moving legs. In IPL 2015, he excelled with 513 runs at an excellent average of 46.63. Plus, his strike rate of 175 does strike fear into every bowler. He will make sure India gets a tough time in every format.

2. Jean-Paul Duminy - In IPL 8 this year, Duminy lead Delhi Daredevils to a disappointing second last finish in the eight-team league table, but on a personal level, he was fantastic. He scored 414 runs at an average of 41.4 (Strike rate 131) and also managed to spin 7 opponents out at an economy of 7.41.

Not many of the regular IPL bowlers can boast of such economical bowling that Duminy managed and the South African fans will be hoping that he can reproduce similar all-round performances for the national team as well.

3. David Miller – David Millier aka ‘Killer Miller’, is known for his lofted, powerful shots straight down the ground. However, just like Duminy’s team. Miller’s IPL team Kings XI Punjab was unable to take off and ended up at the bottom of the table. Regardless of his team’s flop show, David Miller swung his bat and made the ball disappear into the crowd throughout the IPL season at a strike rate of 135.

Like every other South African player, he too has safe hands on the field and picked up 7 catches in the last IPL edition. With his exposure to Indian conditions, he is expected to provide the late fireworks that can propel the scoring for the Proteas.

4. Imran Tahir - Imran Tahir, ‘the leggie with an aggression of a pacer’, is South Africa’s answer to the critics who asked whether they can produce a quality spinner to rank along the many a great fast bowlers over different generations. During IPL 8, Tahir scalped 15 wickets in 10 matches and his best figures were 28/4.

What Tahir brings to the table along with his leg spinners is the fighting spirit and an aggression that we generally do not associate with a slow bowler. In India, Tahir looks destined to exploit the turn and the slowness of the pitch and the hosts could get spun out of the series if Tahir has his way.

5. Morne Morkel - It is always intimidating when a fast bowler delivers at 140+ kph, even more so when he does it from a height of 6ft 5in. Morne Morkel does that with every single delivery. Such a height for a fast bowler is always an advantage to the team.

His IPL outing this year saw him take 10 wickets from the 7 matches he played at a commendable economy of 7.35. Once Morkel finds his rhythm, the Indian batting line up shall hop, skip and dance courtesy his bouncers.It will be quite interesting to observe how Team India responds to these 5 men who will be using all of their IPL experience to outclass the Indian players in their own den.