Pitch for the first test at Centurian,SA coach already on the job.

[Andy]

South African's drawn Test series against Pakistan on placid pitches in the United Arab Emirates left their bowlers craving livelier surfaces. Their cravings for responsive tracks are set to be soothed soon. The three-Test series against India gets underway in exactly three weeks time and India's batsmen should start bracing themselves for more bounce and pace than they are comfortable with. "We've got to take our strengths into consideration, and hopefully we have wickets that will play to those strengths and help us rather than the opposition," South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl said at the team's arrival press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday. "We will hope for conditions that suit our type of players and our type of bowling should come into it." With that reliance comes with the danger that South Africa could be lulled into complacency, safe in the knowledge that their own conditions could be their 12th man on the field, but van Zyl insisted they wouldn't be over-reliant on familiar, pace-friendly pitches. "To do that is bit of a Russian roulette approach, and I wouldn't go that far. We don't want to make it a lottery and we don't want the outcome of the series to rest on how the wickets play." Part of the reason for South African's new sense of wariness is that in the last two years Indian batsmen have had the opportunity to play on bouncier South African tracks during tournaments such as the IPL, Champions League and Champions Trophy. "They've obviously had a lot more exposure on our wickets, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We'll have to see how well-adapted they are," van Zyl said. Despite the practice India's batsmen have had, van Zyl still believes their biggest weakness when playing away from home may come back to haunt them. "When you've played on a certain type of wicket for a long time, and all of a sudden you come and play on a bouncy wicket it's still going to be a handful." South Africa want to maximise their advantage on seamer-friendly pitches. They will add a pace bowler to their starting XI to work with Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis. "The fourth seamer is definitely going to play a role in SA," confirmed van Zyl. Who that extra pace man will be is a mystery. Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell were both part of the touring party against Pakistan, but did not feature in either of the two Tests. The fourth seamer means that South Africa is likely to use only one spinner against India. Johan Botha, who played as the second spinner in the Tests against Pakistan, doesn't think it will be him. "Paul [Harris] has done a good job, and he's done it for a few years now. I think he's still number one against India. I doubt we'll play two spinners, but hopefully I've done enough that if there's a gap I would take it." South Africa's Achilles' heel has been the lack of an attacking spinner and the series against Pakistan gave the slow bowlers an opportunity to stake their claim as part of the wicket-taking clan. For the most part they failed to do so - barring a three-wicket burst from Harris and Botha after lunch on day five of the second Test. Van Zyl wasn't concerned with the lack of penetration, however. "We felt that two spinners would do the job," he said. "But the pitch turned out not to deteriorate the way we wanted." With the Indian batsmen's level of comfort against spin, particularly of the mediocre kind, South Africa may want to cast their net out for a wicket-taking turner. They'd have to look no further than Pakistani-born Imran Tahir, who has claimed 30 wickets in four first-class games this season at an average of 22.00. Tahir was selected in January this year to play against England but was ineligible to play for South Africa because he did not have the necessary documentation. There is a strong feeling that he will be picked as soon as his papers are in order and he he becomes available. "When?", is the question even van Zyl is asking, as no-one seems to have a date for Tahir's status as a South African citizen to be rubber stamped. "The authorities are assisting him", said South African team manager Mohammed Moosajee. "But he will have to tell us when he receives his papers". Tahir is expected to be eligible from December, but the exact day is anyone's guess. South Africa have plenty to think about on the bowling front and almost as much on their minds about batting. Graeme Smith suffered a fractured finger during the series against Pakistan and is likely to miss at least the first Test against India. "I'm hopeful that he will be ready for the first Test. But to say I'm not nervous that he won't be wouldn't be honest," said van Zyl. Hashim Amla also has an arm injury after being painfully hit by a Misbah-ul-Haq pull shot while fielding at short leg, which means van Zyl could be without both two of his top three. "The blow he took yesterday caused a contusion to his left forearm," Moosajee said, but added that the on-form Amla "should be fine" in time for the first Test on December 16 in Centurion. The three Tests will be followed by a Twenty20 and five ODIs. Van Zyl said he will use the last outing before the World Cup to fine tune his combinations. "By this Indian series we want to be as close to the World Cup 15 as can be." South Africa beat Pakistan 3-2 in the ODI series in the UAE and, according to van Zyl, gained valuable experience from the close contest. "This tour has given us a lot of answers. To play in what amounted to a final and to win that has given the guys a lot of confidence." Botha believes India will present an ideal challenge ahead of the team's quest for ICC silverware in February. "The one-day series will be good preparation for the World Cup. You want to bowl against quality players, and you know the Indian team is a world class unit. If you do well against them you are going to have a lot of confidence going into the World Cup."

SAUCE _______________________________________________ I Expected Green Tracks coming up even before the AUS Series started. Their main objective is to bowl us out at maximum of 300 and fancy their chances of scoring more than that every time.

[DomainK]

SAUCE _______________________________________________ I Expected Green Tracks coming up even before the AUS Series started. Their main objective is to bowl us out at maximum of 300 and fancy their chances of scoring more than that every time.

The current Indian bowlers- ZAK, Sree and Ishat, can be very effective in helpful conditions. Indian batting on the other hand, is very well equipped to deal with the moving ball. Lively pitches may just work in India's favor this time. Indian batting against SA's bowling on helpful tracks > SA batting against Indian bowling on helpful tracks.

[Shane]

Strangely enough our best chance to get the better of them. Perth/Joberg.

[Sid]

I have a feeling they will find themselves in the hole which they are trying to dig for us by preparing these lively pitches :--D

[Andy]

Well last few time they played on Lively pitches against us in SA was the 2nd test, In India it was Ahmedabad and Nagpur. We still have the impressions of that in our mind.

[urbestfriend]

:yay: Zack, Ishy and Sree must be licking their lips now, will be fun to watch our pacers destroying opposition batting lineup..:giggle: Bring it on.

[ZodiaC]

Lively pitches = Self pwnage for SA. Our batsmen will score in the toughest of conditions and our bowler will be extremely effective, if not excellent in these pitches. Hope they do prepare such tracks.

[saneindian]

Do not believe the hyperbole. The test match pitches will not be overtly bowler friendly. SA have had their own problem on those "lively" tracks.

[vaibhav_delhi]

On a green top, Steyn is gonna give some serious dents to indian batting. He is the best bowler in the world not for nothing,

[cowboysfan]

The current Indian bowlers- ZAK' date=' Sree and Ishat, can be very effective in helpful conditions.[b'] Indian batting on the other hand, is very well equipped to deal with the moving ball. Lively pitches may just work in India's favor this time. Indian batting against SA's bowling on helpful tracks > SA batting against Indian bowling on helpful tracks.

not true at all.infact there is no test team right now which can handle the moving ball.its all about who screws up less on batting on such pitches and conditions.

[hari504504]

VVS would be our saving grace..

[Ram]

Well, we only have to look to our previous tour to find pointers as to how well we might do, this tour. And all indications are that we're in for our best South African tour ever. Consider this, back in 2006, when we went there, these were some of the prevailing conditions; The Greg-Ganguly saga was at it peak or trough, whichever way you want to look at it. Ganguly had pretty much muslced his way back into the Indian team, using all sorts of political connections and influences, much to the embarassment of the Guru Greg. If you are an India fan following cricket back then, one of the lasting images of that time was the sight of Greg and Ganguly captured across the ends of a pool table, exchanging pleasantries. But everybody knew the sheer turmoil Indian cricket was going through then. Sachin was still feeling the effects of his tennis elbow. He made a lot of minor contributions in that series, but nothing earth-shattering. Dravid was just about to begin his waning phase. The West Indies tour of 2006 was prettyu much the last tour where was Dravid was the old wall. From then onwards, right till the late 2009, the immovable wall, became the wobbly wall. But most importantly, back then, Virender Sehwag was batting like his brain had cross-connections in the circuits. He could not put bat to ball, for crying out loud. It became so bad he got dropped from the team for the third test. To sum it up, our batting during that tour was pretty much in its lowest point in this decade. (apart from maybe the 2003/04 Aussies series). If you consider our bowling, Sreesanth's emergence was a shot in the arm, but we didnt have Ishant back then. Zak was beginning his comeback trail just about now. He was a very good bowler back then, but nowhere close the world-beater that we know him as today. Kumble was steady, without being spectacular. But our we alternated b/w VRV Singh and Munaf for the 3rd seamer spot, which probably made a big difference to our hopes. Essentially, we gave the South Africans a run for their money, despite having all sorts of vulnerabilities in our team. Now, our batting has been stronger than ever, with the emergence of Gautam, the re-emegence of Sehwag and the ascent of Sach and Dravid. Our bowling too is much stronger than what it was today. Plus, we have much more settled side with a coach that everyone loves and who is more importantly, South African. This is probably our best ever chance to win a series in South Africa. If we let go of this opportunity, it might never come back.

[Andy]

Well, we only have to look to our previous tour to find pointers as to how well we might do, this tour. And all indications are that we're in for our best South African tour ever. Consider this, back in 2006, when we went there, these were some of the prevailing conditions; The Greg-Ganguly saga was at it peak or trough, whichever way you want to look at it. Ganguly had pretty much muslced his way back into the Indian team, using all sorts of political connections and influences, much to the embarassment of the Guru Greg. If you are an India fan following cricket back then, one of the lasting images of that time was the sight of Greg and Ganguly captured across the ends of a pool table, exchanging pleasantries. But everybody knew the sheer turmoil Indian cricket was going through then. Sachin was still feeling the effects of his tennis elbow. He made a lot of minor contributions in that series, but nothing earth-shattering. Dravid was just about to begin his waning phase. The West Indies tour of 2006 was prettyu much the last tour where was Dravid was the old wall. From then onwards, right till the late 2009, the immovable wall, became the wobbly wall. But most importantly, back then, Virender Sehwag was batting like his brain had cross-connections in the circuits. He could not put bat to ball, for crying out loud. It became so bad he got dropped from the team for the third test. To sum it up, our batting during that tour was pretty much in its lowest point in this decade. (apart from maybe the 2003/04 Aussies series). If you consider our bowling, Sreesanth's emergence was a shot in the arm, but we didnt have Ishant back then. Zak was beginning his comeback trail just about now. He was a very good bowler back then, but nowhere close the world-beater that we know him as today. Kumble was steady, without being spectacular. But our we alternated b/w VRV Singh and Munaf for the 3rd seamer spot, which probably made a big difference to our hopes. Essentially, we gave the South Africans a run for their money, despite having all sorts of vulnerabilities in our team. Now, our batting has been stronger than ever, with the emergence of Gautam, the re-emegence of Sehwag and the ascent of Sach and Dravid. Our bowling too is much stronger than what it was today. Plus, we have much more settled side with a coach that everyone loves and who is more importantly, South African. This is probably our best ever chance to win a series in South Africa. If we let go of this opportunity, it might never come back.

Not sure about Political connections, May be true. But he performed well in domestic cricket that season and Kaif couldnt grab the NO 6 th spot. And it was 2004-05 series where our batting standards dropped. In 2003-04 we were on all time Batting High. Talking about what difference India had with that side and this one, i completly agree with you. But SA side had opening problems then. Gibbs was a walking wicket. Now they have a settled player in the Name of Amla and is scoring Runs for fun. About their bowling, Ntini and Pollock were their best bowlers, stein was far from what he is now. Mrkel played too, still he was not as good what he is now.

[vaibhav_delhi]

Well, we only have to look to our previous tour to find pointers as to how well we might do, this tour. And all indications are that we're in for our best South African tour ever. Consider this, back in 2006, when we went there, these were some of the prevailing conditions; The Greg-Ganguly saga was at it peak or trough, whichever way you want to look at it. Ganguly had pretty much muslced his way back into the Indian team, using all sorts of political connections and influences, much to the embarassment of the Guru Greg. If you are an India fan following cricket back then, one of the lasting images of that time was the sight of Greg and Ganguly captured across the ends of a pool table, exchanging pleasantries. But everybody knew the sheer turmoil Indian cricket was going through then. Sachin was still feeling the effects of his tennis elbow. He made a lot of minor contributions in that series, but nothing earth-shattering. Dravid was just about to begin his waning phase. The West Indies tour of 2006 was prettyu much the last tour where was Dravid was the old wall. From then onwards, right till the late 2009, the immovable wall, became the wobbly wall. But most importantly, back then, Virender Sehwag was batting like his brain had cross-connections in the circuits. He could not put bat to ball, for crying out loud. It became so bad he got dropped from the team for the third test. To sum it up, our batting during that tour was pretty much in its lowest point in this decade. (apart from maybe the 2003/04 Aussies series). If you consider our bowling, Sreesanth's emergence was a shot in the arm, but we didnt have Ishant back then. Zak was beginning his comeback trail just about now. He was a very good bowler back then, but nowhere close the world-beater that we know him as today. Kumble was steady, without being spectacular. But our we alternated b/w VRV Singh and Munaf for the 3rd seamer spot, which probably made a big difference to our hopes. Essentially, we gave the South Africans a run for their money, despite having all sorts of vulnerabilities in our team. Now, our batting has been stronger than ever, with the emergence of Gautam, the re-emegence of Sehwag and the ascent of Sach and Dravid. Our bowling too is much stronger than what it was today. Plus, we have much more settled side with a coach that everyone loves and who is more importantly, South African. This is probably our best ever chance to win a series in South Africa. If we let go of this opportunity, it might never come back.

Agreed . Batting wise --> if we get pujara in place of raina, we have got all bases covered . Bowling wise --> All three seamers in top form, only chink in the armor is bhajji form, maybe lack of forth seam too. Leadership, coaching and conditioning --> top notch This series is going to be the best chance to win in SA in a long long time.

[Ram]

The difference maker, as always, could be Sehwag. Once again, you had to have seen it, to believe how incredibly badly he was batting during that time. He was absolutely TERRIBLE. If you're an Indian fan, it is almost impossible to reconcile that version of Sehwag with the version of Sehwag we see today. Plus, the serene calm that seems to be the dominant mood in our dressing room today, as opposed to the chaotic turmoil that was plaguing us back then, could make a big difference as well. Besides that, Gary Kirsten will have significant insight into the playing conditions over there, our batsmen have played a lot of cricket in South Africa over the last 2-3 years, albeit in the shorter version. So the conditions wouldnt come as a shock to them.

[cowboysfan]

i wouldt discount the spinners in this series at all.Swann bowled very well over there(almost getting a 10er).bhajji will love the bounce.

[ZodiaC]

Not sure about Political connections, May be true. But he performed well in domestic cricket that season and Kaif couldnt grab the NO 6 th spot. And it was 2004-05 series where our batting standards dropped. In 2003-04 we were on all time Batting High. Talking about what difference India had with that side and this one, i completly agree with you. But SA side had opening problems then. Gibbs was a walking wicket. Now they have a settled player in the Name of Amla and is scoring Runs for fun. About their bowling, Ntini and Pollock were their best bowlers, stein was far from what he is now. Mrkel played too, still he was not as good what he is now.

What about Alviro peterson? Pretty much a walking wicket imho, much worse than Gibsy. And Ashwell prince, well if Paki series is anything to go by, then he's another walking wicket. And Smith is not his old self, with injury problems. Steyns form has taken a slight dip too.

[CSK Fan]

VVS would be our saving grace..

Not in seaming conditions, he wont. It would be Dravid followed by Sachin

[Sid]

Not in seaming conditions' date=' he wont. It would be Dravid followed by Sachin[/quote'] Dravid's last 2 outings on seaming tracks havent been great (SA 2006,ENG 2007),I dont have any high expectations from him either,it will be a pleasant surprise if he prioves me wrong

[akshaywekhande]

Expect another 84 all out on the cards.