AB de Villiers should bat at No. 3: Daryll Cullinan

Cullinan not too happy with the Proteas batting order

Ahead of the third India-South Africa Test at Nagpur on Wednesday, former South African batsman Daryll Cullinan feels that AB de Villiers should bat at No. 3 and the Proteas should overcome their fear of spin, reports Times of India.

“I think AB De Villiers should bat at No. 3. It's a huge disappointment for me that our big player is hiding in the middle order. He has got to bat upfront and lead the batting. Throughout his career, de Villiers has batted in the middle order, which is the easy option,” he said.

Cullinan is also not a fan of AB’s batting position in ODIs and believes that he should stick to his natural position of No.3

“Unfortunately for South Africa, the best players are running scared and not prepared to take the pressure. He should take the pressure and not run away from it. He is the man in form; he is scoring runs and looking in extremely good touch,” he added.

The 48-year-old also said that the Proteas batsmen shouldn’t be afraid of the Indian spinners or afraid of getting out to them.

“They look to be in fear of getting out. They have to overcome that fear and defend a lot better. They have to rotate the strike. (Ravichandran) Ashwin is a good bowler but he is not (Anil) Kumble. I think they perhaps read too much into spin, read too much into pitches. They have to be lot more confident in terms of their defence.”

He also added that the form of two of their three premier batsmen (Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis) is a huge concern, especially due to the fact that the batting line-up is relatively inexperienced. He said the pair “desperately need to get some runs” and support AB.

Cullinan is also not too pleased with the current batting order, which he feels needs some rejigging. “Du Plesis is not in form, so he should bat at No. 5. There's no harm in playing Bavuma at No. 6 because he is a good player of spin.”

He was also scathing in his criticism of JP Duminy and Dane Vilas. The 48-year-old said Vilas isn’t a “quality Test batsman” and that Duminy is a “huge disappointment” in Tests.

“Duminy if he doesn’t get runs now, his Test career is over. Duminy is a huge disappointment in Test cricket. If he doesn’t score in the next two Tests, he must go. He plays because he can bowl a bit. But you need to support your top three batsmen. I think South Africa have a long tail,” he said.

De Lange can fill in for Steyn

With Steyn doubtful for the third Test, the Proteas have called up Marchant de Lange and Cullinan belives that he can do the job for the visitors.

"De Lange is a big bloke. I don't know if Steyn gets himself fit in time. Injuries can happen but it's a long break. I think De Lange, if bowls well and quickly, might be a blessing in disguise. Morkel, De Lange, Rabada can bowl quickly. They have to use the short ball more aggressively.“