Food connoisseurs often wax eloquent about the perfect meal – an aperitif to begin with and a tasty entrée to follow in the build-up to a sumptuous main course. This is an apt metaphor for South Africa’s tour of India. A blissfully short but interesting Twenty20 series was a teaser for what was to come – an action-packed One Day International series where both teams traded blows, before South Africa delivered the knockout punch on a sultry Mumbai afternoon.
The delightful main course arrives on Thursday: four Tests between two evenly matched teams. Marshalled by a spirited captain in Virat Kohli, a young Indian team faces off against the masters of playing away from home. This is the real deal.
The return of Ashwin
The build-up to the first Test at Mohali has been dominated by talk about the playing surface after Indian team director Ravi Shastri’s diatribe against curator Sudhir Naik over the non-spinning nature of the Mumbai pitch. India want a surface that turns and feels this demand is justified. Being the home team, the Indians are well within their rights to ask for a turning surface if they feel that they have a better chance of bamboozling the South Africans with spin.
India’s strength in the spin department has been bolstered by R Ashwin, who returns after a side strain in the first ODI ruled him out of the rest of the five-match series. Ashwin was at the top of his game before he was laid low and he will undeniably be the biggest threat. His smooth run-up and purposeful release of the ball have helped him take 31 wickets in five Test matches this year.
With the South Africans not known for playing spin particularly well, the lanky Chennai bowler will be key to India’s chances.
Happy travellers
On paper, India are comfortably the favourites. The South African squad for the Test matches looks rather inexperienced. Ten of the 15 squad members have never played a Test in India. The Proteas arguably possess the best pace attack in the world, but they lack world class spin bowlers.
Even so, the South Africans’ record away from home makes them a formidable unit. South Africa have not lost a Test series away from home in nearly a decade – the last one coming in 2006. Every other team has struggled away from home. Despite being stretched on several occasions, the Proteas have always managed to dig themselves out of a hole, including miraculous escapes on some occasions. All said and done, South Africa are battle-hardened tough lot who invariably find a way to maintain their proud away record.
With the series likely to be keenly contested, it is hoped that the curators will not play spoilsport. It would be a shame if the curators were to play safe and dish out a road, merely to ensure that matches last a full five days. A flat surface that remains flat throughout does not make for exciting cricket – it only allows batsmen on both sides the opportunity to inflate their averages. Turn or bounce, hopefully the wickets at all the venues will have something for the bowlers as well.
With the early morning starts, a nip in the air and hard-fought Test cricket to follow, it should be an entertaining month ahead.
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The delightful main course arrives on Thursday: four Tests between two evenly matched teams. Marshalled by a spirited captain in Virat Kohli, a young Indian team faces off against the masters of playing away from home. This is the real deal.
The return of Ashwin
The build-up to the first Test at Mohali has been dominated by talk about the playing surface after Indian team director Ravi Shastri’s diatribe against curator Sudhir Naik over the non-spinning nature of the Mumbai pitch. India want a surface that turns and feels this demand is justified. Being the home team, the Indians are well within their rights to ask for a turning surface if they feel that they have a better chance of bamboozling the South Africans with spin.
India’s strength in the spin department has been bolstered by R Ashwin, who returns after a side strain in the first ODI ruled him out of the rest of the five-match series. Ashwin was at the top of his game before he was laid low and he will undeniably be the biggest threat. His smooth run-up and purposeful release of the ball have helped him take 31 wickets in five Test matches this year.
With the South Africans not known for playing spin particularly well, the lanky Chennai bowler will be key to India’s chances.
Happy travellers
On paper, India are comfortably the favourites. The South African squad for the Test matches looks rather inexperienced. Ten of the 15 squad members have never played a Test in India. The Proteas arguably possess the best pace attack in the world, but they lack world class spin bowlers.
Even so, the South Africans’ record away from home makes them a formidable unit. South Africa have not lost a Test series away from home in nearly a decade – the last one coming in 2006. Every other team has struggled away from home. Despite being stretched on several occasions, the Proteas have always managed to dig themselves out of a hole, including miraculous escapes on some occasions. All said and done, South Africa are battle-hardened tough lot who invariably find a way to maintain their proud away record.
With the series likely to be keenly contested, it is hoped that the curators will not play spoilsport. It would be a shame if the curators were to play safe and dish out a road, merely to ensure that matches last a full five days. A flat surface that remains flat throughout does not make for exciting cricket – it only allows batsmen on both sides the opportunity to inflate their averages. Turn or bounce, hopefully the wickets at all the venues will have something for the bowlers as well.
With the early morning starts, a nip in the air and hard-fought Test cricket to follow, it should be an entertaining month ahead.
