Former Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar, who was a regular player in Indian squad in late 1990, on Saturday said that Virat Kohli’s side needs to bat and bowl exceptionally good in the first 20 overs of the match.

Prabhakar, who had opened the batting and sometimes Indian bowling on different occasions, also said that just like playing the ball is an art, leaving the ball that can cause trouble is also an art. One needs to know which ball to leave and which to hit for succeeding in the Test match.

“We cannot win in South Africa if we don’t know how to bat and ball in the first 20 overs in South Africa,” Prabhakar said while talking to reporters.

Manoj Prabhakar is with the Delhi team as assistant coach for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.

“The main thing is, you should know how to leave the ball if you are a compulsory hooker. If you cannot avoid up coming deliveries, you cannot survive. Defence is the best offence. You should know how to leave. I was also an opener. When I can survive, why can’t they survive,” Prabhakar added.

“We don’t know how to leave the ball. Our players, even in Ranji Trophy, only know how to hit the ball. I have seen whole season. Nobody knew how to play the short ball,” he added.

South Africa have taken an assailable lead of 2-0 in three-match Test series by thrashing India in Newlands Cape Town and Centurion by 72 and 135 runs, respectively.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Virat Kohli was slammed by cricket experts as well by fans for benching dependable Ajinkya Rahane in both the Test matches. The team management was also crticised for dropping the star Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Ishant Sharma.

“I cannot understand, how can they say Bhuvneshwar cannot bowl on that kind of wicket. Very rarely will you have bowlers who swing the ball in the air — he can do it. Rest of the bowlers can swing of the wicket. He swings the ball late in the air. So when you have this kind of bowler, why not use him with the new ball? We should understand these things.”

On being asked about what the Indian squad need to do to bounce back in the third Test, he said, “Remedy is opener bowlers and opening batsmen have to do well if you want to win a Test. Ravi Shastri (India coach) cannot teach how to leave the ball.”

“This is a shame if you start picking Test team based on T20I and ODI form. Can you play Rishabh Pant in Tests? No. Rahane should play,” he said.

When Prabhakar was asked whether comparing Hardik Pandya to legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev is right or wrong he said, “Kapil is right when he says don’t compare me with Hardik. The basic needs to be right first. Kapil’s basic was always strong.”