Indian batsmen Sachin Tendulkar, right, and V.V.S Laxman return for the tea interval on the final day of the first cricket test match between India and Australia, in Bangalore, India, Monday, Oct. 13, 2008. AP Photo/Gautam Singh
It will be a Battle Royale. Will India retain her newly acquired No. 1 ranking in Test cricket? They will be sorely tested by former No.1 and current No. 2 nation, South Africa, in the two Test series starting at Nagpur, India on Saturday.
India, under their best ever captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lead the visitors under the indefatigable Graeme Smith by five points: India on 125 points, South Africa 120 (with Australia on the trail with 118).
Overall, South Africa have won 10 Tests and lost 5 to India, with 7 drawn. But in India, it is even-stevens, with teams winning 4 Tests each, and two left undecided.
India have the home advantage, more spectator support, and pitches with less grass to neutralize to some extent the fiery pace of Dale Steyn.
As both teams have prolific batsmen, we expect high-scoring matches.
India have world-class openers in Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, followed by classy batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, and the dynamic three-in-one skipper-keeper-batter, Dhoni.
However, the absence of The Wall, aka Rahul Dravid, undergoing an operation on his broken jaw, will be felt.
In captain courageous, Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB deVilliers, Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ashwell Prince and wicket-keeper Mark Boucher, the tourists also have batting talent to burn.
South Africa have an edge in bowling, having the potential match-winner Steyn, the fastest bowler among today’s cricketers. But will the grassless pitches in India give him bounce and swing?
On paper, India’s attack appears weaker, but in Zaheer Khan, they have the best exponent of reverse swing. While tall and skinny, Ishant Sharma, 21, is erratic one day, a match-winner the next.
Both teams lack quality spinners as the rival H’s, India’s Harbhajan Singh and South Africa’s Paul Harris, lack bite and turn these days.
Sehwag is in tremendous touch with the bat and has scored the highest Test score in the South Africa-India Test series. In Chennai in 2007-08, he hammered 319 runs. The highest by South Africa against India is 196 by Herschelle Gibbs at Port Elizabeth in 2001-02.
Daredevil all-rounder, Lance ‘Zulu’ Klusener, has the best bowling spell in an innings against India, 8-64 in the 1996-97 Kolkata Test. Fast bowler Allan Donald has the best bowling in a match in the India-South Africa series, 12-139 (5-55 and 7-84) in the 1992-93 Port Elizabeth Test.
And this brings me to another point, a burning issue.
Since Donald, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have retired, we have not had a bowler capable of running through a side. Batsmen have gained all advantages in the last few decades: such as helmets, shorter boundary lines, and powerful spring-loaded bats.
But bowlers have received no such “bonuses”.
I strongly condemn Shahid Afridi’s ball-biting incident last Sunday. It was inexcusable. However, do not bowlers deserve some fringe benefits, too?
For instance, a greenish pitch, a slightly smaller ball with slightly raised seam, and a new ball after 65 overs?
This series’ twelfth and final team has a distinct West Indian flavour at the top of the order, and a domineering captain.
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