da dobrowin： Luckily for India, South Africa have plenty of problems of their own. DaleSteyn limped out at the Wanderers, and is doubtful for this game
Dileep Premachandran in Durban20-Dec-2006
Sachin Tendulkar, among the few Indians to redeem themselves at their last outing in Durban, was eventually cleaned up by Andre Nel © Getty Images
Kingsmead has few happy memories for India, outside of the 2003 World Cup,but they arrived in Durban on Wednesday afternoon aware that five days ofthe discipline and grit shown at the Wanderers will take them close toperhaps their most celebrated Test series win in recent memory. Less thana month ago, they left Durban with abuse from Indian supporters stillresounding in their ears, having been bowled out for 91 in a 157-runone-day defeat, and the old-timers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Gangulyand Rahul Dravid will still grimace when they recall the slide to 100 and66 all out against Allan Donald and company a decade ago.It doesn’t help that India do poor encores. The scarcely believablevictory at Adelaide – Australia had made 400 for 5 on the opening day -was followed by a nine-wicket defeat at the MCG, where they squandered theinitiative given them by Virender Sehwag’s audacious 195. A few monthslater, in Pakistan, they slipped up again. Rahul Dravid led India to theirfirst win on Pakistani turf, a comprehensive triumph by an innings atMultan, but a week later at Lahore, the batting order crashed and burnedagainst Umar Gul, with only Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan saving face.That too was a nine-wicket defeat, and Dravid admitted at the post-matchpress conference in Johannesburg that India needed to be wary of a similarblip in Durban.Luckily for India, South Africa have plenty of problems of their own. DaleSteyn limped out at the Wanderers, and is doubtful for this game. In hisabsence, there was a sameness to the attack that would have worried theteam management, despite a splendid performance from Shaun Pollock, whowent past 400 Test victims in the game. Makhaya Ntini was flat anderratic, while Andre Nel veered between two extremes, bowling someexcellent deliveries interspersed with phases where he let ego andaggression dictate matters.Even before the first-Test debacle, Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach,had requested for pitches with plenty of pace and bounce, adding that hedidn’t fancy a grassy surface. After his top order was ruthlessly exposedon a surface that offered bounce without being especially quick, itremains to be seen what instructions will be passed on to the curator atKingsmead. Only Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman made half-centuries forIndia, but several of the others also showed far greater application andawareness of the conditions than their South African counterparts. Withthe exception of Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis, the batting was simplywretched, and a reshuffle of sorts is expected, with AB de Villiers movingup to partner Graeme Smith at the top of the order.Smith’s travails epitomise those of his team. He made some boldpronouncements in Australia last summer, and was then taken apart by anAustralian pace line-up that takes considerable joy in exposing shallowtalk. The misery continued in the return series, and with the exception ofthe Centurion one-day game earlier this month, he has barely put bat toball against the Indians. Both Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth have zoomed in onhis tendency to play across his front pad, and Durban will be a real testof his character, with the team also under the pump.From being prohibitive favourites to win the series – Haroon Lorgat,convener of the selection panel, spoke confidently to an Indian newspaperabout a 3-0 whitewash – the South Africans will arrive in Durban on Fridaystaring at the spectre of only a second series defeat to non-Australianopposition since their readmission to the world game in 1991. As for theIndians who left Durban last month as badly beaten as one of Mike Tyson’searly victims, they must resist the urge to pinch themselves and focus onthe task in hand, starting with a two-day game against a KwaZulu NatalInvitation XI on Friday.