AB de Villiers: “We would love to beat them 3-0”
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South Africa batsman AB de Villiers has called on his side to aim for a 3-0 series whitewash in the third Test against India in Johannesburg on January 24.
The Proteas already hold an unassailable 2-0 series lead, but like captain Faf du Plessis, De Villiers wants South Africa to keep their foot on the gas and end the series on a high.
“We would love to beat them 3-0 but you’re never guaranteed of a result,” De Villiers was quoted as saying by timeslive.co.za. “We know we’ll have to dig deep and make sure we adapt to the conditions like we did in the last two tests and find a way to play our best cricket in the specific conditions.
“India have really impressed us and surprised us‚ especially from a bowling perspective. They’ve shown a lot more skill and definitely more pace than we expected.
“We know we have to be watchful in this last test because they’re going to come out fighting and wanting to finish well in the test series ahead of the ODIs.”
De Villiers, who believes he is “in the best form of my life right now”, has scored 200 runs, which includes two half-centuries, at an average of 50, in the first two Tests.
While the 33-year-old would like to convert his fifties into triple figure scores, he admitted that he is not too worried about his failure to score a century in the series.
“Quite a few guys played some good hands but Virat’s innings in the first dig was very good,” De Villiers said. “But I’m looking forward to the Wanderers. I hope there’s more bounce and pace compared to the Centurion wicket but we really adapted well to the conditions and that’s what we needed to do.
“It’s great to get centuries and it’s the ultimate to go out there and perform. We’ve tried to do that over the past two matches but the wicket hasn’t quite allowed for that.
“There’s been some good bowling. I personally would have loved a hundred but I don’t think that way. If I can contribute with a 50‚ 60 or 70 and it’s good enough‚ I’ll gladly take that and this last test was an example.”