South Africa would be unwise to underestimate the Indian tourists
Peter Robinson
Even before South Africa started to trample their way around Zimbabwe, there was a generally held view that Zimbabwe constituted a warm-up for Sourav Ganguly’s Indians who, in turn, were designed to act as sparring partners ahead of the real business against Australia.
This might not be the most prudent way of looking at things. India, it is fair to say, are not the best travellers. They haven’t won a Test series in 15 years and two previous visits to South Africa, under the captaincy, first of Mohammad Azharuddin and then Sachin Tendulkar, proved equally unsuccessful.
Indian cricketers have found it notoriously difficult to come to grips with conditions away from the home shores, particularly in South Africa and Australia where the bounce, as much as anything else, tends to unravel them.
And yet the current tourists might not turn out to be the Aunt Sallys some expect. They arrived on Monday and have had their feet looked at and boots sorted before their first outing, a gentle stroll around Randjesfontein against Nicky Oppenheimer’s assortment of old codgers and hopeful youngsters this coming Monday. Then they have a warm-up against South Africa A in Benoni on Wednesday and the first one-day international against South Africa at the Wanderers on Friday.
So they have a bit of time to acclimatise, but more importantly the first key moment of the tour only comes on October 27 when the final of the triangular one-day tournament is played in Durban. The point here is that while India might catch a hiding or two in the early stages of the tri-nations, they should have little difficult in reaching the final Kenya are the third point of the triangle and then it comes down to a one-off. And, as South Africa will be all too aware, anything can happen in a one-off.
Then comes the Test series and India, you would imagine, would have started to adjust to the bounce by then. It has to come back to the bounce because Indian techniques are almost invariably developed and honed on low slow pitches and adapting to different conditions is as much mental as it is technical.
Batsmen have to subdue some instincts and enhance others as they decide which deliveries to leave and which ones to play at while bowlers have to find the right length.
The spine of the Indian batting will be provided by Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, the inimitable Tendulkar and, when he arrives, VVS Laxman. Tendulkar is on his third visit to South Africa with the other three here for the second time. So they will be aware of what is required of them.
Indian batsmen can and have adapted to South African pitches in the past. Four years ago, on a sunny Saturday at Newlands, Tendulkar and Azharuddin tore into the South African bowling, adding 222 in 175 minutes and the most spectacular exhibition of batting since Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock took Australia apart in Durban in 1970.
So they can play here and this leads us on to the South African bowling. Even allowing for flat pitches and the extraordinary form of Andy Flower, the South Africans have looked a little less than sharp in Zimbabwe, particularly the seamers.
For the first time since assuming the captaincy, Shaun Pollock has lacked both zip and shape. It is possible that the twin burdens of leading the side and having to cover for the absence of Allan Donald and/or Mfuneko Ngam are finally beginning to take their toll.
And with Jacques Kallis also needing to be used sparingly, the seam attack on which South Africa has relied so heavily since readmission has begun to look a little frayed around the edges.
It is much too early to start talking about a crisis and, apart from the usual suspects, South Africa have a fair bit of talent around the fringes. David Terbrugge, Charl Langeveldt, Nantie Hayward and Garnett Kruger would make up an attack for which many Test-playing countries would sell their birthright, but for the South Africans the trick will be to integrate newcomers smoothly and seamlessly, if you’ll forgive the expression.
Again, this is not a crisis, but it does serve to emphasise that South Africa would underestimate India at their peril. After all, not many teams have beaten Australia recently.
Peter Robinson is the editor of CricInfo South Africa