Facing India with Kohli and Rohit nothing new, but it does bolster them: Bavuma
Raipur (PTI): South Africa captain Temba Bavuma feels facing an Indian side with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma is nothing new but it does bolster the hosts whom the Proteas had blanked 2-0 in the Test series.
Kohli’s 52nd ODI ton and Rohit’s 57 set up a 17-run victory for India in the opening ODI, giving them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the second match to be played here on Wednesday.
“The inclusion of those two guys that does bolster the team. Like we said at the start of the series, these are two guys who have a lot of experience and a lot of skill and that can only benefit the team.
"It is not something that we are not aware of,” Bavuma told the media ahead of South Africa’s training session at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium here.
Underlining their experience in international cricket, Bavuma recalled watching a young Rohit in the 2007 T20 World Cup which India won as a school student.
“We played against, Rohit… I think it was in 2007, the T20 World Cup, I was still in school then. I mean, these guys have been around, so there is nothing new. These are world-class players,” he said.
“(Coming up against them is) nothing new, we have come across it. We have been on the bad end of it. But we have also had good times against them. It all just makes the series a lot more exciting,” he said.
Bavuma, meanwhile, said there was nothing for him to clarify on the use of the word “grovel” made by South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad during the fourth day’s play in the second Test.
“No, I don't think it is distracting (and) no it’s not for me to clarify,” said Bavuma, who missed the opening ODI.
Bavuma heaped praise on Marco Jansen whose 39-ball 70 took South Africa on the brink of a victory in the first ODI.
“From an all-rounder point of view, I don't know where the rankings sit (but) I am sure Marco Jansen, in any one of the formats will definitely be in a top 10. His contributions, with bat (or) with the ball (and) sometimes even both, they have been immense to our success,” he said.
“He is still a young guy, but he has had a lot of international cricket that is under his belt. He is only growing into his own and becoming a lot more comfortable under his skin.”
Bavuma did not read much into South Africa’s loss in the first ODI. “We were 15 runs (17) short of them. The gap between the batting performances wasn't a big one. India played well, their two stalwarts stood up but we were not too far off." Bavuma, who has led South Africa to 11 Test wins in his 12 matches as skipper so far, said it was up to those in “suits” in Cricket South Africa to ensure there are more Test matches against top countries.
“All of us have been crying for more cricket especially against the top nations,” he said.
“The Test series (against India) now, as much as there were two match series, a lot of us would have wanted to see it going to three or four-match series. When it's a side like India, they would have raised the standard, which would have forced us to raise our standards as well.”
“As players, we don't get involved when it comes to the scheduling, the negotiation, and all of that. Those are for, I guess, the people in suits, the Cricket South Africa."
On a lighter note, Bavuma said some of the South African players want to play a four-Test series as they are growing old.
“Some of us are getting a little bit old, so we're not going to go too long to make another four match Test series against India,” he said.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
