London, July 17: Former Proteas skipper Shaun Pollock has advised South African pacers that getting Kevin Pietersen’s wicket early in the Tests would be the short cut to beating England.
Skipper Graeme Smith will ask Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander to get Pietersen in the first Investec Test at The Oval on Thursday and make South Africa No.1 in the Tests.
Pollock, who took 421 Test wickets during his career, said: “I think Kevin will be pretty motivated – just as Graeme Smith now plays only Test cricket at international level, and he can channel all his energy into that, KP will have a point to prove.
“He wants to be part of the Twenty20 set-up and he wants to show people what kind of a quality cricketer he is. But, right now, he has decided to go with Test cricket as his only format with England, so he will be keen to make an impression.”
“And, in many ways, that will put extra pressure on him because he only has Tests to show what he can do, and his opportunities will be limited. There’s the history of Kevin coming from South Africa, and the reaction of crowds in the series which have gone before, but I think everybody has gone past all that now,” he said.
“The real issue is how important he is to England’s fortunes. When I played against Lara, Tendulkar, Ponting or Steve Waugh, you knew they were in the top 10 of the world batting averages and they were big players for their teams. Kevin is a big player for England and if South Africa can get the upper hand on him, they can dominate the series,” The Daily Mirror quoted Pollock, as saying.
Pollock is predicting a South African victory in the Test series, insisting that Steyn, Morkel and Philander will outgun Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan.
© ANI
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