Team needs discipline in batting, bowling and fielding to beat Proteas: Dhoni

DURBAN - Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said India still needs to be disciplined in batting, bowling and fielding to win the Test aeries against South Africa.

India levelled the series in Durban beating South Africa by 87 runs after the hosts won the first Test by an innings and 25 runs at SuperSport Park, Centurion, two weeks ago.

South Africa and India head to Newlands on Sunday for the deciding Test of the three-match series.

“Our bowling, our batting and our fielding have to be at their best if we hope to win the next Test,” Sports24 quoted Dhoni, as saying.

“We don’t have much experience on these types of wickets so it’s a big challenge for the side. We know it doesn’t always go our way and we last won a Test in South Africa in 2006 so everyone wants to perform really well,” he said.

Dhoni said it was a concern of theirs after their defeat at Centurion whether India had the capacity to take 20 wickets to win a match.

“Whenever we lose a Test match, it has a big impact on the side psychologically. It was a bit of a worry for us to get 20 wickets but our bowlers did really well in Durban. Most of our bowlers are swing bowlers and not naturally talented on flat wickets so it makes it difficult for us to bounce the batsmen out,” he said.

“The one thing I’m really consistent at is losing the toss. Sometimes it can be really tough. It’s always good to win the toss so you give your bowlers a chance if there’s something in the wicket,” laughed Dhoni, who has lost the last 13 out of 14 tosses. (ANI)