The spin camp and South Africa A tour in India are vital to the Proteas’ preparation for their Test series against India writes Khalid Mohidin.

Cricket South Africa announced that a spin camp will take place in Bangalore from 17-23 August.

This kick starts just over a month of preparation for a select few who are a part of the Proteas Test squad that will face India.

Aiden Markram and Zubayr Hamza will look to familiarise themselves with the sub-continent conditions, as well as spinners Dane Piedt and Senuran Muthusamy.

Piedt, in particular, will be crucial in helping the likes of Markram and Hamza. Having toured India before with the Proteas four years ago, he will be essential to helping the batters prepare for the conditions.

Markam has shown his vulnerability against spin and working with the likes of Ashwell Prince, who understands the struggles of sub-continent conditions having toured in India as a player, will help him tremendously at finetuning his batting in those sub-continent conditions. This is vital to his role as the specialised opener for the Proteas.

Hamza has shown his quality on a SA A tour to India last year, scoring two half-centuries with a high score of 93, in what was his first experience in Indian conditions. If he can improve on this form with top-class performances in the unofficial Tests against India A (10-20 September) and show improvement during the spin camp, he could force selectors to pick him in the XI against India.

Both batsmen will benefit from facing the likes of Piedt and receiving advice from Prince and Paul Adams.

For Muthusamy, he will be given the opportunity to sharpen his skills with both bat and ball in sub-continent conditions, a challenge he is looking forward to.

“The spin camp is an opportunity to set my base for a two-month tour to the sub-continent (first with the SA A team then the Test match team),” he said exclusively to Cricket Fanatics Magazine. “It will help me find suitable game plans against spin and I hope to find my processes which will help me score runs.”

Adams’ influence during the camp will be key too. His record in Asia as a Test bowler was phenomenal. He played 12 matches (two against Bangladesh, three against India, three against Sri Lanka and four against Pakistan) and took 42 wickets – 14 of those were in India. He will be able to provide valuable tips to both Piedt and Muthusamy, as well as provide vital information to the batsmen on what to look out for.

All-in-all, the spin camp and SA A tour is crucial to these players’ preparation. If they show strong form leading up to the Proteas Test series against India, it will boost the selection options and strengthen the batting and spin-bowling prowess of the side.

READ: CSA make changes to SA A squad

Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix