David Bedingham, a South African hitter, counts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as his top picks from Indian athletes. He shared how he aimed to imitate Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs’ styles as a youth. However, when he couldn’t quite achieve it, he looked to Kohli and Rohit for inspiration.
At SuperSport Park in Centurion, Bedingham, 29, produced an outstanding Test debut, amassing 56 from 87 balls in an innings that included two sixes and seven fours. He shared a century partnership for the fourth wicket with Dean Elgar (185).
Speaking ahead of the second Test match against India, which will take place at his home field of Newlands in Cape Town, the Proteas cricket player discussed how Indian players Rohit and Kohli, along with senior school classmates Kallis and Gibbs, had influenced his batting style.
“My two favorites among Indian players are Sharma and Kohli. I think when I was between 13-18, I was trying to mold my technique like theirs (Kallis and Gibbs) and when I had a bad game, I changed my technique to copy Kohli’s or try probably Sharma’s,” Bedingham was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
David Bedingham
Despite seeming composed in the midst of his Test debut, the South African batsman acknowledged feeling anxious while facing Jasprit Bumrah.
“My nerves were really high and I didn’t really think about his bowling. I was so nervous about batting, great Test. He swings the ball at great pace both ways.”
David Bedingham
Bedingham played in 87 first-class matches prior to making his Test debut. In those games, he scored 6,047 runs at an average of 49.56, with 18 hundreds and 23 fifties.
“My priority is Test cricket and first-class cricket” – David Bedingham on T20 leagues
Due to the fact that most of the top players will be preoccupied with the SA20, Bedingham has been selected for the South African Test team for the forthcoming trip of New Zealand.
When asked if he would also like to play in franchise leagues, the batter answered:
“I have always loved watching Test cricket, so I see it as a bonus. If those things come up, perfect, my priority is Test cricket and first-class cricket. The biggest dream is to score a century at Newlands.”
David Bedingham
So far, David Bedingham has appeared in 55 T20 matches. He’s made over a thousand runs, precisely 1014. Each run averages to about 20.28, at a strike rate of 128.84. He’s scored half-centuries six times.