Peidt does an Ashwin on India

NEW DELHI: Dane Piedt has much to thank India for his revival. If his exposure against India A batsmen on these tracks earlier this year earned him a call to the South African Test squad, his hawk-eyed observation of how R Ashwin operates could set his career rolling in his comeback match. Rohit Sharma fell for the very trap that his own team has been laying for the South Africans all through this series.
Rohit was new to the crease when a stroke of luck saw Piedt removing Virat Kohli after having earlier outdone Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan with his arm balls. Imran Tahir was hovering at long-on as a fidgety Rohit took guard with India verging on another middle-order collapse. It happened.
Later, Piedt revealed his hand. "I kind of stole it from Ashwin," the offspinner said. "He does it to our players. They are quite aggressive hitting down the ground. They would try to put me under pressure trying to hit me over my head. I told the captain to put on long-on and one catching at mid-wicket. We could stop them from scoring."
Piedt's simple explanation perhaps also revealed why the Indian batting has been struggling to tackle foreign spinners. Rohit took the bait and was soon heading back to the pavilion. Piedt's trick had worked. Tahir had the ball pouched a good 15 yards inside the rope. It's the control that had Piedt bowling 34 overs while Tahir's trusted leg-spinners were employed only for seven overs.
The uncertainty of a career-threatening shoulder injury has the 25-year-old working out ways to grow into top-flight cricket. "A former Proteas physio told me that my injury could go either way ­ I return to playing or I don't. But after I got injured after my debut against Zimbabwe 16 months ago, it's my time now. I am trying to make best use of the surfaces. AB de Villiers is the best against spin and bowling to him every nets session tests my skill," he said, also referring to the time spent playing for South Africa A in the pitches of Kerala. "I tried to measure my skills against sub-continental teams. And t was good that my first tour out of SA was in sub-continental conditions."
Piedt would like to believe he has landed a few hefty blows to dent India's confidence. But as Sanjay Bangar sees it, India eventually need just one run more than the South Africans. "We definitely are getting the results that we want. We have generally scored enough to win the matches of late," the Indian batting coach opined. Irrespective of the result, Piedt won't be wrong in fancying a few more Ashwin type dismissals in the remainder of the match.