There aren’t many people who would argue that South
Africa has the best top six in the entire globe. Following the unconventional
No. 3 Rassie van der Dussen and the unconventional No. 4 Quinton de Kock is the
dynamic powerhouse three of Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, and David Miller.
Anyone predicting South Africa’s chances at this World
Cup should be concerned about what happens next. The claim is that Marco Jansen
is batting one slot too high at No. 7, which can interfere with your ability to
approach pitches with a single-minded attack. Even just the knowledge that
those in your rear can hit can help to clear the mind.
Having no batting support might make you cagey, but
that wasn’t evident in the thrashing Sri Lanka received. Van der Dussen was asked
at the ICC mixed media zone if it hurts him that Jansen is the No. 7 despite
the fact that he is performing well. If that tempers his intentions and
aspirations, that is.
“Yes, maybe they are untested, but Marco, who is
almost a batter in his own right, and Gerald’s standing here. If you talk about
six-hitting, hopefully you’ll see that soon. And then… we know what KG [Rabada]
and Kesh [Keshav Maharaj] can do as well down the order.”
Minutes later, Gerald Coetzee turned up, and the first
thing to ask him was if he fancied himself at six-hitting as much as van der
Dussen did. “I do, absolutely,” Coetzee said. “I didn’t get a
chance today. And if you look at my batting average, it says I average one, so
I haven’t hit sixes, but in T20s, I’ve hit a few and I’ve done well in domestic
cricket, so hopefully I get a chance and I can show it.”
So fancy it enough to spend extra time in the nets
working on his batting? “Yeah, no, I definitely want to be a bowling
allrounder,” Coetzee said. “If you look at someone like Chris Morris,
what value he added, I think there’s a massive gap in the market for
that.”
Having said all that, as the fireworks in Delhi
attested, Jansen and Coetzee at Nos. 7 and 8 inspire enough confidence in the
top six to not hold back thinking of a long tail to follow.