Mumbai, Oct 23 (IANS) Veteran South African spinner Simon Harmer has termed India as the “toughest team to beat” in all formats of the game as the 35-year-old is expecting to be part of a quartet of spinners on the upcoming tour of India.

Harmer from Transvaal destroyed Pakistan with figures of 6-50 on Day Four of the second Test to give South Africa a comprehensive eight-wicket win in Rawalpindi on Thursday. The off-spinner said that he will be using the experience of bowling in Pakistan to succeed in India.

The World Test Champions will next head to India, where they play a two-Test series with the first Test in Kolkata from November 14.

“India is a tough team to play at the moment, and they have a huge pool of stadiums with different conditions and players,” Harmer was quoted as saying by Telecom Asia Sport after the win in Rawalpindi.

In helping the team level the two-match series 1-1, the veteran spinner also completed 1,000 first-class wickets in his 235th match. He is the fourth South African to take 1,000 or more first-class wickets, behind Mike Procter (1417), Alan Donald (1216), and Charlie Llewellyn (1013).

For the first time in a series in the sub-continent, South Africa went into a tour with four spinners — seasoned campaigner Keshav Maharaj joining Senuran Muthusamy, Prenelan Subrayen, and Harmer. Maharaj missed the first match while Subrayen made way for the senior spinner in the second.

Harmer said winning in Pakistan’s spin-friendly conditions will help South Africa gear up for the upcoming tours of India and Sri Lanka next year.

“Before coming on this tour, we knew we needed to learn quickly so that when we play in India, we are good from Day One. India is a good outfit and their spinners are world-class,” said Harmer.

Harmer said the first series for South Africa is ideal for their defense of the prestigious title.

“Leaving for India with a 1-1 is a good result. The WTC is about matches won, so a 50 per cent winning percentage is an ideal start and will give us a lot of confidence for the next series,” Harmer told www.telecomasia.net.

Having achieved success in Pakistan, Harmer said the South African spinners will use the same ploy against India.

“You need to take away their boundary options, and it has worked here, so we will try to repeat that in India as well. The four of us spinners kept chatting and shared the plans. We were not good in the first Test, but we picked it up here.“

–IANS

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