Arshdeep was wary of Proteas’ excellent record in Pink

Arshdeep Singh admitted he and some of his teammates were wary of what lay ahead of them before confronting the Proteas in the “Pink ODI”. 

South Africa had won nine of the previous 11 matches clad in pink, part of an initiative to raise awareness about breast cancer.

“Me, Axar [Patel] and Avesh [Khan] were talking at dinner [on Saturday] night about how brutal the Proteas are when they are playing in the pink jersey, how they hit sixes in this jersey. We were thinking about restricting them to under 400,” Arshdeep remarked. 

They certainly exceeded their expectations. Never mind 400, the Proteas struggled to get to three figures, with Arshdeep leading the way with a maiden five-wicket haul in his fourth ODI.

Reeza Hendricks was his first ODI wicket, with the 24-year-old left-arm seamer finishing with 5/37. It was a performance high on skill and clarity, with Arshdeep acknowledging conditions worked in India’s favour as they bowled South Africa out for 116 and won by eight wickets, knocking off 117/2 in 16.4 overs. 

The South Africans will look to bounce back in the third ODI at St George's Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday (1pm).

“There was a little moisture and purchase in the wicket and we kept things simple,” Arshdeep said.

Batting was anything but for the home team. Having chosen to bat, South Africa were 3/2 by the end of Arshdeep’s first over and the match as a contest was done by the 11th over with South Africa 56/6.

Andile Phehlukwayo’s 33 helped nudge their total to just over 100, which was well short of a target that would create tension in the Indian dressing room. 

Though the ODI format is taking a back seat in the wake of the World Cup, Sunday’s performance will nevertheless concern the Proteas coaching staff, who must accept viewing each performance through a larger lens, whether that be the 2025 Champions Trophy or the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.

“Those events are a long way away, but understanding our brand and style will be important,” said batting coach JP Duminy .

He explained that the players were still, despite making it to the semifinals of the World Cup, trying to understand how they wanted to play. The Proteas have posted 10 totals in excess of 300 runs this year but have also been bowled out for less than 250 five times.

“When you are trying to build a brand and a style of play, you potentially will have those contrasting experiences. That is where the learning happens for me,” said Duminy.

“When conditions are good we can score 400, but we need to know how can we find our way towards 280 on a tough wicket. That's the journey for us.”

The Wanderers offered tricky conditions in the first hour on Sunday, but whereas Arshdeep and co executed perfectly, not getting carried away with all the pace and bounce on offer, the Proteas batters could not execute.

“I’m not rapid enough to target the batters with bouncers,” said Arshdeep.

“The plan was very simple: hit good areas, extract some bounce and look for a little bit of movement, and challenge the batters to try to score off tough balls.”