South Africa's captain Hashim Amla feels he needs to lead from the front and hopes that he will back amongst the runs soon enough.
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Hashim Amla Under Pressure in Second Test vs England
Hashim Amla and South Africa have not produced a single convincing Test performance since defeating a weak West Indies team at Newlands in the 2015 New Year fixture.
Agence France-Presse
Friday, 01 January, 2016 08:30 IST
Cape Town: South African captain Hashim Amla will be under pressure in the second Test against England, starting at Newlands on Saturday.( Poor Show vs India my Lowest Point: Amla )
Amla and South Africa have not produced a single convincing Test performance since defeating a weak West Indies team at the same venue in the 2015 New Year fixture.( England Crush South Africa by 241 Runs)
Their 241-run defeat in the first Test against England at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday was their fourth loss in seven matches, with the other three fixtures severely affected by rain and ending in draws. Three of the defeats were in India.
South Africa's batting has been dismal during this period, with only three totals over 200 in 10 completed innings and just one individual century - Dean Elgar's undefeated 118 at Kingsmead - and three half-centuries.
Amla himself has hit the longest batting slump of his international career, scoring 150 runs in 10 Test innings at an average of 15.00 with a highest score of 43. His form in one-day and Twenty20 internationals has been similarly poor with his most recent 19 innings in these formats yielding a single century - against New Zealand in August - and no fifties.
Amla took over the Test captaincy in 2014 and made a good start with series wins against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies, contributing heavily with the bat as well.
But his recent form and an early history of reluctance to lead - he gave up an early provincial captaincy in order to concentrate on his batting, as well as the vice-captaincy of the national side at one stage - have caused questions to be asked about his future as Test captain.
