India vs South Africa: 2nd Test Preview Print E-mail
Category: Previews
Written by Luke Tagg   
Thursday, 11 February 2010 17:56
It's do or die time for India if they want to avoid a rare home series loss to go with a dethroning as the world's No. 1 Test team in the second Test against South Africa in Kolkata, which starts on Sunday.

They did it in 2008 - South Africa was 1-0 going into the final Test and lost it inside three days. This time there is a lot more at stake, however, not least of which the small matter of $175,000 for ending the year as No. 1.

In 2008 they could blame the Ahmedabad pitch for going 1-0 down, which was a gift-wrapped present for Dale Steyn. This time they had a great pitch to work with in Nagpur but were murdered by Steyn all the same and had to rely on blaming the selectors.

They're going to have to put all that behind them on Sunday if they want to stop South Africa, who are looking as mean and hungry as I've ever seen them.

India did actually have a valid injury problem in the first Test, however - it would be unfair to say South Africa beat their best side. When you're missing three of the world's greats - Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh - no amount of specialist reserves is going to make up for that.

It's like South Africa losing Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers and expecting to still be as strong they were. Impossible.

Not that it's an excuse - all countries have injuries and have to make do. But it certainly is a mitigating factor.

India aren't exactly down and out either. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar made fluent centuries and Zaheer Khan removed both openers with just six runs on the board. If those guys keep their form and India can find one or two more players to come to the party, they'll be as threatening as we all expected them to be.

You never, ever get two performances in a row as good as the one South Africa produced in Nagpur, so that's also something India can hold onto. It's highly unlikely that Hashim Amla will make consecutive doubles or that Steyn will take another 10 wickets.

So if India can only go up and South Africa can only go down, the likely result is a meeting in the middle - and a classic Test match.

India have been boosted by the news that Laxman is fit again (and if he's not they'll thrash him with a stick until he is), which will give a major boost to the tenuous, makeshift middle order they produced in Nagpur.

The problem for them isn't so much their batting as their bowling, however, which was so hopeless it only returned six wickets out of a necessary 20. That was despite conditions perfectly conducive to spin or seam or swing - take your pick. They failed in all departments with the ball.

The two main problems were Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh. I'm of the firm belief that Ishant needs more experience in first-class cricket to be a quality Test bowler in all conditions, whereas Harbhajan is a form problem for which there is no magic cure.

I think it would be hasty to drop Bhajji, despite his lack of success in the first Test. The only way he can get his mojo back is to play and knowing how fiercely combative and proud he is, I'm sure he will pull out all the stops in Kolkata to restore his pride.

I would get rid of Ishant, however - smart quick. Sreesanth is fit again and has been drafted into the squad and I've always believed he's a genuine threat.

I've never forgotten the way he destroyed the Proteas in Johannesburg in 2006 to give India their first ever win on South African soil - his 8/99 in the match is still his best ever Test return.

He took 18 wickets in that three-match series at 21.94 and was a serious handful. Admittedly it was on lovely, bouncy South African pitches, but you still have to be able to bowl a good ball to take a wicket.

Put it this way: he couldn't be any worse than Ishant was in Nagpur. He's got much better pace than Ishant and as we've seen in India - you have to bowl fast if you're a fast bowler. You can't just run in and put it there. You have to hit the deck hard and hurry the batsmen into mistakes.

Ishant's pace was far too benign and he didn't have the wonderful reverse swing that Sreesanth possesses, which Dale Steyn proved was a vital necessity for success.

With Laxman back I think India should strongly consider playing an extra bowler, however. If Viru and Gauti and Sachin and Laxman and Dhoni can't put up a decent total then they deserve to get beaten. Give those guys the responsibility and give Dhoni a decent bowling attack to choose from and you'll have far better balance.

I'd probably give Ishant one more chance but I would also include Sreesanth, giving India three seamers. Two simply isn't enough, unless the pitch is a right old turner, in which case it may be worth including an extra spinner - possibly Pragyan Ojha.

It would mean ditching one of the middle order batsmen, which would be Badrinath. He had a reasonable debut in the first Test and is definitely worth the investment, but the team would have far better balance if Dhoni were to consider himself a specialist batsman at No. 6.

My team would thus look like this:

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Murali Vijay
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. VVS Laxman
6. MS Dhoni (c/w)
7. Harbhajan Singh
8. Zaheer Khan
9. Sreesanth
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Amit Mishra

If you really can't stomach the prospect of more Ishant - and are worried about the rather lengthy tail - you may want to play debutant Suresh Raina. He's been brilliant in ODIs for India and has an excellent first-class record. He's also a lefthander, which India are precious short of.

He can also turn his arm over with his right-arm offspin, so in essence could be used as an allrounder.

With Raina in the side it would look like this:

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Murali Vijay
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. VVS Laxman
6. Suresh Raina
7. MS Dhoni (c/w)
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Sreesanth/Ishant Sharma
11. Amit Mishra

Either way, there's far more balance for India. The trick for them is getting everyone to perform.

As for South Africa: I don't expect any changes. The only possible change they could even consider would be playing debutant Alviro Petersen as an opener, moving Ashwell Prince down the order and binning JP Duminy.

That won't happen though. The last thing they want is a debutant opener and to be fair to Ash - he got a shocker to get out in Nagpur. The DRS would have saved him had it been in place.

I reckon it will be his swansong as an opener if he doesn't make runs, however. Kallis and Amla aren't always going to rescue poor starts.

The future selection of both Prince and Duminy probably rests on this match, actually. Neither have made any meaningful runs for a year now and it's time to look elsewhere if they can't step it up.

South Africa would have a right old problem if Prince fails and Duminy makes runs, but if it's the other way round I think the decision should be simplified somewhat.

For now, however, don't mess with a team that can beat India by an innings.

1. Graeme Smith (c)
2. Ashwell Prince
3. Hashim Amla
4. Jacques Kallis
5. AB de Villiers
6. JP Duminy
7. Mark Boucher (w)
8. Dale Steyn
9. Morne Morkel
10. Paul Harris
11. Wayne Parnell

Finally: the pitch. All we've been able to do is speculate about it because nobody knows how it will play until play gets underway.

No matter what it is, however, both sides have to bat on it and both sides have to bowl on it. The one who does those two things best will win, whatever the state of the pitch.

The task is harder for India because South Africa don't have to win the game to win the series. It would be a huge mistake for them to take that approach, however - a defensive mindset will be torn apart by an Indian side that is still hurting and looking for revenge.

This match won't be as one-sided as the last one. That's a sure bet.
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