Dhaka – Not quite in the mould of Jacques Kallis, but Stiaan van Zyl’s all-round talents are proving to be invaluable to the Proteas’ cause in Bangladesh.
The 27-year-old’s primary task is of course providing stability at the top of the batting order and forming a new opening partnership with Dean Elgar. In his solitary Test in this new role thus far, last week’s drab rain-curtailed outing in Chittagong, there were sufficient positive signs in both innings that Van Zyl could be persisted with at least until the India tour comes around in November.
He showed sound judgement in where his off stump – a prerequisite for a top-class opening batsman – was located and seemed to be one of the few South African batsmen able to counter the hosts’ dangerous rookie opening bowler Mustafizur Rahman. It was only after Van Zyl’s dismissal – the only blot on his copybook from the first Test when he failed to take advantage of a solid start – that the 19-year-old was able to carve through the Proteas’ middle-order with his wide range of cutters.
“He (Mustafizur) is obviously the new guy on the scene. We haven’t faced him a lot, and with any guy the more you face him, the more comfortable you become because you know what he’s going to do,” Van Zyl said.
“For me, I was aware of the cutter that he bowls. On the wicket we played the Test it did not grip as much as it did during the one-day series. I just try to play on the right-hand side of the wicket as that puts me into a better position I think. He is trying to get you bowled or lbw, because he likes to come into your pads. I am not saying he won’t get me out in the next Test, but I think you need to go forward to because the ball keeps a bit low here. If you hang back you could get yourself into trouble.”
The ability “to read” Mustafizur arguably stems from working on his own leg-cutters with personal “bowling coach” and long-time Cobras teammate Vernon Philander. The pair share a special friendship that stretches back to when Van Zyl first entered the Cape Cobras dressingroom while still a teenager and Philander, in his unique way, looked him straight in the eye and said: “Hey laaitie, you just score all the runs, and I’ll take care of the wickets.”
This simplistic gameplan pretty much worked for the Cobras with Van Zyl and Philander routinely being close to the top of the South African first-class domestic runs and wickets charts resulting in their team being the premier four-day franchise with four titles in five years from 2009-10 until 2013-14.
Being in such close proximity with the former World No 1 Test bowler had to have rubbed off Van Zyl for his medium-pacers are developing steadily. He delivered 13 overs in Bangladesh’s first innings and created the all-important first breakthrough when he had Imrul Keyes smartly stumped down the leg-side by Quinton de Kock.
Such was Van Zyl’s discipline in being able to maintain a tidy line and length throughout the day that Proteas skipper Hashim Amla believed JP Duminy’s off-spinners were surplus to requirements on the opening day.
“I enjoyed my wicket. I think I can will get a couple more during my career if play for South Africa for any length of time. I am kind of guy who is always looking for wickets, I am not just there to keep the runs dry. I try stuff, and if it happens, it happens,” Van Zyl explained.
South Africa do have a specialist opener in the uncapped Reeza Hendricks in their 15-man squad, and the Knights right-hander’s name could come up for discussion considering Amla did not rule out the possibility of changes to the line-up after Chittagong.
However, Van Zyl deserves the opportunity of an extended run at the top of the order to familiarise himself with his new position here in Dhaka, while the added value of being able to turn his golden arm over should allow him some breathing space going forward.