'Guys around AB help him play freely'

NAGPUR: When Dave Callaghan broke into South African side, it was a good unit full of utility players. With so many talented players performing consistently well, it was difficult to break into the South African side of mid and late nineties. However, when you have so many talented players around, it allows you to play freely. Callaghan always played his cricket with a free mind.
Callaghan feels the current South African team has a very good bunch of players who are playing freely, and that is one of the reasons for their triumph in both Twenty20 and One-day International series. The former South African allrounder spoke to TOI on South Africa's great run in India. Excerpts…
Q: What are your thoughts on South Africa's performance so far?
Their performance speaks for itself. A lot of them have played in the IPL in the last couple of seasons; some have played right from the time IPL started. That has helped them a lot. They know the conditions, they know the Indian players. It has made their job lot easier. The pleasing part is their batting. It has been exceptional on the tour.
Q: What went wrong for India in this series?
I think bowling was a big issue for India in this series. I don’t think India were able to contain the South Africa batsmen, therefore there was always that scoreboard pressure. The batsmen were always under pressure to put a big total on the board and that won’t happen all the time. There will always be an odd failure. Unfortunately for India, it came in Mumbai.
Q: Your thoughts on MS Dhoni's batting these days?
Dhoni has been an exceptional player for India over the years. But when people start putting pressure on you, it affects you somewhere. There are question asked on his presence in the team. When you are putting pressure like that on somebody, he will obviously want to bat differently. He definitely wants to bat bit more freely. India is very difficult place. There are millions of people who want Dhoni to do well every time he walks in and that's not going to happen.
I feel there's lot of external pressure on him. Unfortunately, the batting around him isn't reliable either. He has to play more of a senior role because he isn't sure whether guys before or after him will make runs. When the guys before him make runs consistently, he can play like AB de Villiers. That's what AB is doing because guys around him are really good and consistent. They allow him to play freely.
Q: South African bowlers were clearly better than their Indian counterparts...
They are all wicket-takers. I think (Morne) Morkel has made a big difference in this series. He was not only able to keep the Indians quiet but also contained them well. (Dale) Steyn bowled well at the death and (Imran) Tahir was key in the middle overs. He was able to put the breaks and also broke some crucial partnerships. Then that young kid (Kagiso) Rabada was exceptional. He was able to absorb the pressure very well. South Africa have bowlers who can take wickets. I think the most important thing in One-day cricket these days is taking wickets. It’s not about containing. If you have two new batsmen at the crease, there’s always pressure on the batting team.
Q: AB de Villiers was once again at his destructive best. Do you think he is currently the best batsman in the world?
AB is an exceptional player. I don’t think there’s any better batsman in the world than him. There's not much I can say about him other than that I am glad he plays for South Africa. He has so many good players around him. Hashim had a quiet series but Quinton held the top order well. You have got so many players who supported AB… Faf du Plesis, JP Duminy. You have Miller and Behardein who can hit right from the word go. I heard AB saying this morning that all these guys are good friends. The unity of the team is very important. They love being on tour together. They like each other’s company. They enjoy each other’s success. That’s why they are winning so many matches.
Q: While the lower middle order was problem for India, South Africa did very well in that area.
Behardien performed well in the lower middle order. No. 7 is a difficult position to bat at. You have to go after the bowlers right from the word go, while sometimes you need to build the innings when wickets fall in bunches. He has fit into that role quite well. Obviously, there is always a question mark over his abilities as an allrounder but as a batsman he did well at that position. South Africa will always prefer someone who can have better bowling abilities, somebody who can contain and pick odd wickets. However, so far he has done well.