South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has promised India’s batsmen a pace barrage in the second one-day international in Durban on Wednesday.
”We’re looking for pace and bounce, and it looks like that’s the type of pitch we will get,” Arthur told a news conference on Tuesday.
”When we play in India we know we need to be on top of our game against spin. When India play here they know they need to be on top of their game against pace, and we will attack them with pace.”
The first match of the series in Johannesburg on Sunday was abandoned without a ball bowled because of rain, and Arthur said his team was eager to take on the Indians.
”There’s a lot of pent-up energy in the camp,” Arthur said. ”You don’t want to be going from net practice to net practice, which is what has been happening. We need to start playing cricket now.”
Arthur said the South Africans felt they held important advantages over the visitors.
”India have a lot of dangerous players, but we are a difficult team to beat at home and we are number two in the world,” Arthur said.
He did not put much store in the fact that a Rest of South Africa XI beat India by 37 runs in a tour match in Benoni on Thursday.
”Ajit Agarkar makes a major difference to their attack, Harbhajan Singh is a top-class spinner and Virender Sehwag controls the top of the order,” Arthur said. ”They didn’t play in the tour match.”
However, India captain Rahul Dravid bristled at suggestions India were poor players of fast bowling.
Recent rain and humid conditions are likely to ensure the traditionally responsive Kingsmead pitch will favour seam and swing bowlers even more than usual.
”Have we consistently performed as a group in the last couple of tours to South Africa in the Test matches?” Dravid told a news conference. ”Probably not, but there have been guys who have put their hands up and played pace well across the world.
”Every time India travel you hear these things and every time South Africa travel to India you hear about how they can’t play spin bowling.
”Each team has its strengths and weaknesses and the challenge is to play well in conditions [that] are not similar to those you have at home.”
India have yet to win a Test in South Africa in nine attempts. The visitors have won three and lost 12 of the 16 one-dayers they have played in this country.
Dravid said his side would take heart from reaching the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
”We did well in these conditions the last time we played here so we will take confidence from that,” Dravid said.
”This is a different time of year so the pitches will not behave in the same manner, but they won’t be entirely different.”
Dravid said his team were raring to go despite a weather forecast that suggested there was a 60% chance of showers on Wednesday.
”There’s not much we can do about it and we’ve had as much practice as we possibly can,” he said. — Reuters