"That's why I feel India will beat South Africa" - Brad Hogg on the clash in Optus Stadium

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg believes Team India will have the upper hand when they meet South Africa in the T20 World Cup Down Under. The two sides will go head-to-head at the picturesque Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia (WA) on October 30.

Optus Stadium has hosted quite a few competitive games and has arguably one of the fastest pitches in the world. Being the local boy, Brad Hogg knows the conditions and the pitch inside out and reckons that teams with a strong bowling attack will dominate at the venue.

Fast bowlers are likely to extract more help from the surface. However, Hogg claimed that even the spinners will come into the game if they hit the right lengths, as they will generate extra bounce.

Hogg spoke about the India-South Africa clash while reacting to Sportskeeda's query during a media interaction featuring Western Australia tourism. Here's what the ambassador of Lifeline WA had to say about India's bowling attack and the variety it possesses:

"With India, they have Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar], [Jasprit] Bumrah or [Mohammed] Shami to get that swing upfront with extra pace and then use Bumrah at the death and in the middle-overs along with the spinners."

The former chinaman bowler added:

"With the spinners, if you hit the right length, it is difficult to hit straight down the ground as the ball will hit higher up the bat. That's why I feel India will beat South Africa there."

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"It's about using the pace" - Brad Hogg on India negotiating South African speedsters

With the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi in their ranks, the Proteas have one of the best pace attacks in the world. They would certainly relish bowling on a quick track at the Optus Stadium, more so as the Men in Blue have had a history of being bullied by extra pace and bounce.

However, Brad Hogg explained how the Indian batters can be smart and use the pace of the deliveries to target the shorter boundaries. He opined:

"It's about using the pace. The Indians are very good at using their wrists, so with the short boundary they will be able to get the sixes over the slips by using the pace, because they can't cover up all that part of the boundary."

Hogg continued:

"When they pitch it up, you use the timing and just drive them along the turf, or you can go over the top, six straight down the ground. So with the South African attack, I think they (India) will be able to handle it very well."

With world-class bowlers on both sides, it could well be a bowler who wins the Player of the Match award when India and South Africa face-off in Perth.