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South African batter David Bedingham has named Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as his favorites among Indian players. He also revealed that, as a young boy, he molded his technique on Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs, but tried copying Kohli and Rohit when he failed.
Bedingham, 29, made an impressive Test debut at SuperSport Park in Centurion, scoring 56 off 87 balls, an innings which featured seven fours and two sixes. He featured in a century stand with Dean Elgar (185) for the fourth wicket.
Speaking ahead of the second Test against India, which will be held at his home ground at Newlands in Cape Town, the Proteas cricketer opened up on the influence of school seniors Kallis and Gibbs as well as Indian stars Kohli and Rohit in his batting technique.
“My two favorites among Indian players are Sharma and Kohli. I think when I was between 13-18, I was trying to mold my technique like theirs (Kallis and Gibbs) and when I had a bad game, I changed my technique to copy Kohli's or try probably Sharma's,” Bedingham was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
While the South African batter looked calm out in the middle on Test debut, he admitted that he was nervous while facing Jasprit Bumrah.
“My nerves were really high and I didn't really think about his bowling. I was so nervous about batting, great Test. He swings the ball at great pace both ways,” he said.
Before making his Test debut, Bedingham had featured in 87 first-class matches, scoring 6,047 runs at an average of 49.56 with 18 hundreds and 23 fifties.
“My priority is Test cricket and first-class cricket” - Bedingham on T20 leagues
Bedingham has been picked in the South African Test squad for the upcoming New Zealand tour as most of the big names would be busy playing the SA20.
Asked whether he too is keen on playing franchise leagues, the batter replied:
“I have always loved watching Test cricket, so I see it as a bonus. If those things come up, perfect, my priority is Test cricket and first-class cricket. The biggest dream is to score a century at Newlands.”
Bedingham has played 55 T20s so far, scoring 1014 runs at an average of 20.28 and a strike rate of 128.84 with six half-centuries.
