The right-hander was dismissed for 49 runs in the first innings of the second Test in Guwahati.
For the longest time in Test cricket, the No.3 spot holds supreme value. The batter walking in to bat at No.3 often finds himself in the midst of uncertainty, with respect to when one walks out to bat. On the last few occasions, Tristan Stubbs has been one of the most consistent performers for South Africa at No.3, and the Proteas must give a longer rope to the youngster.
There was a time when the South Africans preferred Wiaan Mulder at No.3, who has even scored a blistering triple-century at that position. That being said, Tristan Stubbs has got the most number of runs in his career at No.3. And that is exactly why the Proteas should think seriously about persisting with Stubbs are their No.3 in the longest format.
On the eve of the second Test between India and South Africa in Guwahati, Tristan Stubbs was promoted to No.3 by head coach Shukri Conrad ahead of Wiaan Mulder. However, the youngster opened up about the challenges of shuffling between positions in the batting order. He also stressed that it requires a lot of mental resilience to bat at the position.
“It’s not the easiest thing moving around but whatever the coach asks, I’m just happy to be in the team. I have worked a lot on my defence as I had been a white ball player”, said Stubbs on being asked about batting at No.3.
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The 25-year-old expressed that batting at No.3 requires more mental resilience than batting anywhere else in the order. Someone who is ready to bat at No.3 might come out to bat in the first over. On the contrary, the same batter can also be forced to go out in the 30th over of the innings. Hence, it is more of a mental game than a skill based game.
Out of the 665 runs that Tristan Stubbs has got at the international level in Tests, 438 of them have come while he has been batting at No.3. This accounts for more than 50% of the runs scored by the right-handed batter. To add to that, Stubbs has displayed a fantastic technique against both pace and spin, which add to his valour as a batter at No.3.
In the first innings of the second Test, Stubbs scored 49 runs off 112 deliveries before being dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav. Though Wiaan Mulder has scored more runs in the 11 innings he has played at No.3, the right-handed batter has got almost half of his runs against Zimbabwe in a single innings. That being said, South Africa will have a headache to choose between the two batters.
“The change is not so much technical, but mental. (It’s) probably (about) tightening your game plan, especially if it’s doing a bit up front and maybe checking your scoring options”, said Stubbs after the conclusion of play on the first day of the Test in Guwahati.
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