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Looking Ahead: South Africa's Tour of India |
- Venkat
Last time the Proteas' visited India under the
leadership of the late Hansie Cronje, they were
one of those sides who were in a position to
challenge Australia for the topmost position in
International cricket. But 2004 will be a
different situation altogether. This time
around, the South Africans are a team that are
down in the dumps and need quite a rebuilding to
do before they can even come close to
challenging the best. India are going through a
similar phase to South Africa, where cricketing
form has been a bit rugged. Cricketfundas.com
give its readers an exclusive preview to the
evenly-matched two match Test Series between
India and South Africa.
Pitches:
The pitches in India have been a big talking
point ever since the visit of Australia. During
the recently concluded Test series, we saw
different pitches at different centres, which
proves the fact that the Indian wickets are
really unpredictable. But, after the huge
success of the Indian spinners at Mumbai, it
would be interesting to see if the curators at
Kanpur and Kolkata prepare wickets that are
conducive to good spin bowling, with spin being
something that the Proteas are not that strong
against. If the weather stays okay, then we can
see good Indian cricketing wickets, with
something for everybody rather than everything
for somebody, as it was against Australia.
India:
If India were on top of their game and in good
cricketing touch, then they would fancy winning
the series with some ease. But, now as the slump
intensifies, it would be hard to predict how the
Indians turn up in this series. The opening
debate continues, but Gautam Gambhir has been
assured of at least 2 test matches to impress
the selectors. It would be really interesting to
see if the likes of Tendulkar and Laxman played
the way they did at Mumbai - look positive and
look for runs always. It will be a tough choice
to make for the selectors to choose the middle
order batsmen with Ganguly's return to the team
and with Kaif in good batting and fielding form,
it will be a close call. Dinesh Karthik will
also get two good games to establish himself in
the Indian line-up and with his impressive
performances in Mumbai and the Ranji game
against Hyderabad, it will be left to see how he
stands up at Kanpur and Kolkata. The bowling
will be back to near full-strength with Irfan
Pathan back, and yet another crucial decision
for the management to make is the in-form Murali
Kartik's inclusion in the matches. As Saurav
would say, that the attack will be only chosen
after the pitch is seen by him, it would be very
interesting so see if a 3-spin or a 2-2
pace-spin attack plays in the matches. India's
fielding had particularly improved with the
inclusion of Mohammad Kaif in the line up
against Australia, but it would be left to see
if the fielding really stands up against the
Proteas as well. India will be quietly confident
of clinching the series, seeing South Africa's
poor sub-continental performances in the recent
past, but having considered their own form,
India should be looking for a good fight from
the South Africans.
South Africa:
Changes here, changes there and changes
everywhere - this is what best describes the
South African team of today. Graeme Smith has
brought with him a bunch of talented and
inexperienced youngsters to India, and will be
hoping for some success in the sub-continent
after series losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in
the recent past. The South African batting looks
the weakest since some years with the exclusion
of Gibbs and it revolves around the grit and
class of Jacuqes Kallis. It would be interesting
to see as to who opens the batting along with
Graeme Smith. Boeta Dippenaar is the favourite
for the opening job and his coming into form in
the domestic season would be a tremendous
psychological boost to the South Africans.
Martin Van Jaarsveld is also projected as a
prospective opener. The middle order of the
South Africans looks a bit unsettled with only
Jacques Kallis and Jacques Rudolph as
established batsmen. Hashim Amla looks all set
to make his debut for South Africa and would be
interesting to see how he progresses considering
all the media attention converging on him. Thami
Tsokilele is also set to don the gloves for the
first time for his country and becomes the first
Black wicketkeeper for South Africa. The bowling
no longer seems a force it was say 2 years ago.
Shaun Pollock has been a bit inconsistent and
not so potent to a certain degree, Makhaya Ntini
could be one of them who could worry the
Indians, but the lack of a quality spinner on
Indian conditions will certainly hurt them. It
would be interesting to see if bowlers like
Alfonso Thomas make their debut in the series.
On an overall viewpoint, the odds are completely
and heavily stacked against the South Africans
winning the series, but this sudden entry of
youth just must be what South African cricket
needs to resurrect its not-so-smooth immediate
future.
As Ricky Ponting said "The Sri Lankan tour is
always an indicator as to how well a side plays
in India", and this statement should certainly
being some cheer to Indian fans, as they lost
the series there. But India, as a team which is
in doldrums itself, should worry more about
their game than think about South Africans. It
will not be an easy break through the wall, and
if the Indians have to win, knowing South
Africa, they'll make the Indians earn that win
and not give it easily. This series looks really
promising, with some youngsters yet again in
view, and from the Indian point of view, a win
in this series could be the crucial trigger to
better performance and India's re-emergence as a
force to reckon with in International Cricket.
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