South Africa vs India 2013-14:1st Test - Problems India needs to take care of

India vs South Africa

It was with a pinch of salt that we had to take the BCCI’s imprudent management of this much-awaited Indian tour of South Africa – not only has the protracted tussle between the cricket administrators of the two countries subjected the lustre of this series to undergo significant attrition, it has also eroded the essence that a fight between the top two teams of Test cricket usually carries.

The 3 match ODI series is over in a jiffy – and, without any kind of practice in South African conditions, a home-sick Indian team accustomed to playing on tailor-made Indian tracks could do no better than concede the series to their counterparts, without a customary whimper. The first Test of the two-match Test series is scheduled to start at Johannesburg tomorrow, and the inexperienced Indian team is bound to face an uphill task in its pursuit of glory in the highlands of South Africa.

Lacklustre batting needs to reinvented

Virat Kohli

The famed Indian batting order has failed to emulate the magic that had been weaving so consistently during the last few months – in the absence of any form of acclimatization to the South African conditions, the Indian batsmen caved in to the challenge that was mounted by the South African pace battery.

The swashbuckling ways of Shikhar Dhawan, the flamboyance of Rohit and Kohli and the finesse of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh were all put to a silent death by the lethal bounce and pace housed in the tracks of South Africa. The transition from favourable subcontinent conditions to the hostilities in South Africa was expected to be rough, but few would have expected this inspired Indian unit to put their weapons down in the way they did in the recently concluded ODI series. This shall make their task doubly difficult in the longer format of the game, which requires greater perseverance and acumen for survival against the venom spewing Proteas quicks.

The Indian openers – Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan – have had a smooth ride so far in the Tests played in 2013, for most of them have been conducted in the backyards of the Indian subcontinent. Tests in South Africa, though, shall be a different ball game altogether and both these openers have to go far beyond their usual combination of talent, skill and aggression in order to make a mark on India’s fortunes in South Africa.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s brief exposure to South African conditions during India’s tour in 2010 is not expected to have any bearing on the way in which he conducts himself at the excruciatingly vital No 3 in the batting order. The laurels that Pujara has won for himself ever since taking charge of the No. 3 position from Rahul Dravid, emphatically point towards the variegated skills that he possesses in his repertoire. But, much of the work that lies ahead for him, can be successfully accomplished only if he can bring about a harmonious union of his talent and a never-say-die attitude in the ghastly den of South Africa.

Virat Kolhi and Rohit Sharma – both expert craftsmen in the shorter formats of the game – are still fledgling forces in Test cricket. While Kohli’s Test career is yet to take off, in the proper sense of the word, Rohit Sharma has just burst onto the scene with back-to-back centuries in the recently concluded Test series against West Indies. The exploits of both these talismanic members of the Indian team in the two upcoming Tests shall wholesomely decide whether or not India manages to come out of the South African inferno, with its dignity intact.

Ravindra Jadeja and M.S.Dhoni’s performance with the bat, in Tests away from home, have repeatedly come under critic’s attack in the recent past. While the former is yet to announce himself as a full fledged Test cricketer, the latter – with all his variegated captaincy skills and aggressive batting ways – has failed to fully utilise himself as a No 7 batsman for the team in away conditions. Needless to say, both of them have to play out of their skins to make a dent on the South Africans in the coming days.

Hapless bowlers need discipline

Md. Shami

While Zaheer Khan’s comeback to the Indian Test squad has created quite a buzz in fans’ circles, most of it is bound to fizz out when a doting Zaheer starts fumbling with the red cherry in conditions that he last faced three years ago. The absence of practice matches is going to make the task more difficult for the recuperating Zaheer, who shall be expected to take charge of an inexperienced bowling unit in the Test matches.

The rest of the Indian bowling is in utter disarray – while a rising Shami may keep things tight from his end, the others in the squad appear to be highly ill equipped to take the field in the two Tests. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s gradual slide down the barrel in the last couple of months has been unfortunate, to say the least, Ishant Sharma’s continued haplessness with the ball deserves nothing more than pity.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s rise to the highest echelons of fame has been mainly due to his exploits with the bat down the order – his prowess with the red cherry, however, has fallen by the wayside in many occasions in the last few months. The South African tracks are not going to make it any easier for this Indian prodigy – his only hopes of success lie entrenched in his ability to reinvent the long lost discipline in his bowling.

South Africa, with home conditions to support, an impressive list of batsmen to adorn the batting order and a world famous pace battery to bolster their claim on the numero uno position in Tests, appear to be hot favourites to win both the Tests lined up in the next few days. Team India, though, may spring a surprise if they can pull themselves together in a fight against the best Test unit in the world.