4th ODI: Surprised by India's decision to ignore Bhuvi and Bumrah, says Klaasen

Jasprit Bumrah Pic AFPIndia did not bowl Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah at the death in the fourth ODI and instead opted for the wristspinners a move that backfired and South Africas Heinrich Klaasen said he was surprised by the decision India skipper Virat Kohli did not bowl Kumar and Bumrah at the death even as the wristspinners were leaking runs I was very surprised Klaasen said about Kohlis strategic call to keep Kumar and Bumrah away from the action at the death after South Africas target was revisedDavid Miller and I thought they would have kept them the pacers at back for two overs each But I think how this series went that led them to bowl their spinners for the remaining of the overs But I was very surprised about it Kohlis decision didnt work as the spin duo failed to contain the Proteas for once leaking 119 runs in 113 overs for just 3 wickets between them The 26yearold wicketkeeper batsman who replaced injured Quinton de Kock said that it was Yadav who had worried the Proteas in the series so far with his variations I wouldnt say we have solved the spin riddle The problem at beginning of series was that we didnt pick the chinaman Yadav That obviously makes the difference not to be able to score against him said Klaasen who played a blinder of knock 47 off 27 balls last nightNo one really struggled to pick Chahal but he seemed to pick up a lot of the wickets We struggled to pick up the chinamans variations But we did a lot of homework on him over the last 23 days and that seemed to work today Klaasen proved to be the real difference as he punished the spinners with a plethora of inventive shots and chased umpteen wide deliveries hitting them in an unorthodox manner But the batsman it was a calculated risk which he took against the spinners Thats where the gaps werethat was my only boundary option He bowled quite wide and got a lot of turn and bounce that was my gutsy shot at that moment and I pulled it off said Klaasen So we were very calculated in our approach there Maybe it didnt look like it But it was all calculated and planned out what we wanted to do Klaasen said th fivewicket win in the Pink ODI will give his side a massive boost in the series This is a massive confidence booster for us We didnt have the confidence earlier but it has lifted our spirits It has given belief in the dressing room he said It is also nice to have AB de Villiers back again The environment changes when he comes back He is a huge influence in the change room he added South Africas target was revised to 202 from 28 overs following two rain interruptions But despite the loss of AB de Villiers for only 26 Klaasen and David Miller took the Proteas homeThe turning point came when Miller was dropped on 6 and then bowled off a Chahal no ball on 7 He went on to make 39 off 28 balls and changed the momentum I knew between myself and David we could let that run rate go up till about probably 1213 especially at the Wanderers where the ball tends to fly quite a bit he said It was definitely a momentum changer for us getting that free hit on Davids wicket Hes a cool calm and experienced cricketerKlaasen said he was confident of pulling off the chase even after de Villiers dismissal I didnt think we were over the line when Miller got out but I was still calm Ive done it a lot I mean 28 off 26 the batting side should win 99 per cent of the time You need to keep that cool and calm composure and luckily Andile Phehlukwayo took all that pressure off me with some big hits he said Klaasen said that it was a huge personal achievement for him to take South Africa to victory after having scored just 6 runs on his ODI debut at Cape Town I was quite disappointed in my debut gameI enjoy playing against spinners Sure I do get out a lot against them but I do enjoy playing against them Its a good challenge The way I got out in my debut game was tough That was a soft dismissal and I didnt like it he said But to put in a performance like today to take that second opportunity obviously boosts my confidence a lot I needed to recover quickly as well This knock will do a world of confidence for me he added At one stage India were on course for a total in excess of 300 but some brilliant death bowling by South Africa restricted them to 289 for 7That was a phenomenal 16 overs I thought our death bowling in Cape Town was also very good Thats a good thing to see that our death bowling is picking up Morrie Chris Morris and KG Kagiso Rabada are bowling very well I think India were looking at 340 at some stage so all credit needs to go to the bowlers to restrict them and get us back into the series Klaasen saidCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go