Gary Kirsten helping South Africa won't make a huge difference: Sunil Gavaskar

Gary Kirsten

South African may have roped in the services of former India coach Gary Kirsten ahead of their clash against the Men in Blue on Sunday, but former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and former Australian captain Ian Chappell feel that his presence in the Proteas camp won’t matter a great deal.

“It will help to an extent but then a lot depends on how they play on the field,” Gavaskar said.

Along with acquiring the services of the 47-year-old former opener, the South Africans have also bought former Australian batsman Michael Hussey on board, due to his prior experience of playing with some of the Indian cricketers in the Indian Premier League(IPL).

Chappell felt that the Indians shouldn’t think too much about the duo helping their opponents.

"Those guys will only help (South Africa) if India think too much about Kirsten and Hussey. These things are peripheral,” the 71-year-old said.

India can beat South Africa on Sunday: Chappell

He also said that the Men in Blue have a good chance of beating the Proteas on Sunday if they play the way did against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in their opening encounter and despite the convincing win over the arch-rivals, suggested a change in the Indian playing XI.

"India have a good chance of beating South Africa if they play like they played versus Pakistan. If they get the same captaincy from Dhoni.

“I am not so worried about South Africa's pace attack. Steyn is up there but Morkel is inconsistent, Philander is not quick and Imran Tahir was smashed around the park by the Australians. And the Indians play spin better than Australia. It's a big opportunity for India as long as they go with the same approach.

"I would rather play Axar Patel than Ravindra as he is better wicket-taking option in the middle overs,” he said.

Gavaskar said that India shouldn’t underestimate the opposition bowling attack and look to tackle their threat by adopting a judicious approach with the bat.

"India shouldn't take South African bowling attack lightly. India need to bat sensibly early on and score at least 260-270,” the former India opener said.