Farhaan Behardien talks about the importance of JP Duminy & AB de Villiers

Behardien credited Duminy’s calming influence for helping him play a crucial knock

Farhaan Behardien has praised the calming influence of JP Duminy for helping him score a crucial knock in the T20 series opener at Dharamsala, Wisden India reports. The 31-year-old also revealed how South Africa are planning ahead for the 2016 World T20 to be held in India.

The Proteas won the first T20 at Dharamsala by seven wickets thanks to half centuries by Man of the Match JP Duminy and AB de Villiers. The South African heavyweights deservedly got the praise, but another player who had a crucial role in the victory was Behardien, who made an unbeaten 32, but more importantly forged the match-winning 105-run partnership with Duminy.

A modest Behardien chose to credit Duminy’s calming influence at the other end for helping him with his innings.

“Batting with JP is always a bit of a blessing. He is the captain of Delhi (Daredevils) in the IPL and had a calming influence on me. I have learnt a lot from David Miller and AB de Villiers as well,” Behardien told reporters ahead of the second T20I. “Before coming to India, I personally did a lot of work with my coach Rob Walter, played a lot of spin. We looked how to work in the middle overs of a T20 game. India generally bowls a lot of spin in that particular period.”

Talking about that partnership with Duminy, he said: “One of the conscious efforts is to try and disrupt the bowling unit. The field always has to change, with fielders having to cover different sides of the boundary. The bowler has to change his line and length. The game is so short and the grounds are so small, that something like that can change the game, but not always. If David Miller had gone ahead of me, we all know what he could do in the short format.”

Behardien also talked about how South Africa’s experimentation of opening with De Villiers has been shaping up.

“He (De Villiers) was mentioning that he has been on tour to India about 25 times. The first six overs in a Twenty20 game is when the ball comes on to the bat is crucial. If we can pounce on the Power Play, AB is that good a player that if he bats for 50 to 60 balls, he will end up with a hundred,” Behardien said. “We wanted to test it out before the World Cup next year in March and see how he goes. Let’s hope it proves fruitful for us,” he said.

Behardien looks ahead to the 2nd T20I

The 1st T20 saw close to 400 runs being scored with almost all bowlers barring India’s Ravichandran Ashwin & South Africa’s Kyle Abbott feeling the brunt of the batsmen. Behardien expressed hope that the upcoming matches will provide some purchase for the bowlers as well.

“Over the last couple of years, the batters have dominated the game in T20s and ODIs with massive scores of 400 etc,” he pointed out. “Let’s hope that there will be something for both batters and bowlers in the coming games.”

The South African is certain that the 2nd T20 at Cuttack would not be a run-feast like the one the spectators witnessed in the series opener.

“In Dharamsala, to get close to 400 runs in 40 overs was a little bit of a freak thing. We understand that the dimensions will be bigger. From an altitude point of view, it is much lower, so the ball will not fly around that much. We have to play according to the conditions,” he said. “There might be more ones and twos. Running between the wickets might be crucial, and from a bowler’s perspective, certain pockets in the field will be crucial.”

The hammering received by the Indian bowlers has led to suggestions that India could bring in either of Harbhajan Singh or Amit Mishra in place of one of the seamers. Behardien does not see anything wrong with the move as every team has the right to play to their strengths.

“Australia have four-five bowlers who bowl at 90 miles an hour, we have been fortunate enough to have four bowlers who can bowl 90 miles an hour. India has four to five quality spinners,” he said. “Each team has its own strengths and we prepare accordingly for spin, especially in the subcontinent.”