The departure to England after signing the Kolpak deal and then returning to South Africa following its closure in January 2021 brought with it both assurance and worry for Simon Harmer.
Till March 2023, the off-spinner did wear the Proteas cap in five Tests following his South Africa comeback, but couldn’t hold on to his place in the squad thereafter.
His Test career was completely uncertain. But a chat with captain Temba Bavuma, after South Africa’s World Test Championship final victory, and the skipper’s interaction with head coach Shukri Conrad after that, played a big role in Harmer’s return to the Test squad.
Brought back for the Pakistan tour, Harmer responded just the way the Proteas needed him to, picking up 13 wickets to help his team draw the two-Test series 1-1.
The drift aside, conventional off-spin and the straighter one are amongst the variations of the 36-year-old, who has 1,000 wickets from 234 first-class appearances so far. However, the task to deliver in India is an entirely different challenge, and Harmer has no doubts about it.
“India are going to be a completely different challenge as they look to be very proactive against spin and try to unsettle the spinners. So yeah, you can take the confidence (from the Pakistan series), but in terms of the challenge, I think it’s going to be a completely different one.
“We’ll take the momentum from Pakistan, but obviously, we’re looking to reset and make sure that the focus is on what’s in front of us and not on the past,” Harmer, with 52 scalps from 12 Test appearances so far, told The Telegraph ahead of the first Test at Eden Gardens, beginning on Friday.
The Indian conditions, however, aren’t totally alien to Harmer. When South Africa toured here back in late 2015, he featured in two of the four Tests, having 10 scalps with two four-wicket hauls in Mohali and Nagpur.
Returning to Indian shores after a decade, the straighter one could well be Harmer’s stock delivery against Shubman Gill and Co. in this series. “I think it’s always important on the subcontinent to have, on turning wickets, a ball that doesn’t turn. On flatter wickets, you can have other options, though,” he stated.
“It’s always nice to come off the back of taking some wickets on the subcontinent. But cricket is played on grass, not on paper. So, we need to make sure we learn from the mistakes we made in Pakistan.”
A bit of time off after the Pakistan tour has helped Harmer freshen up before what could be a gruelling contest against the Indians. However, it’s the experience he
has had in Essex and taking a bulk of wickets there in the red-ball games, which adds to his confidence going into the India series.
“I’ve had a couple of weeks at home (after the Pakistan series). So, I had taken some time off to freshen up, but then I’ve been doing some work when bowling at Essex, obviously making sure that the body is where it needs to be,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say there’s anything completely different that changes from the way we had prepared for the Pakistan series. We need to make sure that we’ve covered all of our bases to be ready for any conditions,” Harmer added.