Team India has been struggling on this tour. With the Tests just round the corner there is plenty to be concerned about for the team management starting with repeated failure of the batsmen. The good news is that the team has shown through its only two victories on this tour shades of what it is capable of. Dada’s performance and the late order fight back lead by Pathan in the tour match is a sure sign of depth in the batting. The bowling meanwhile has been good for most part in comparison to the batting.
The long break seems to have done Zaheer a world of good. He is back in full form and defaults to being the spearhead. VRV had a good match in the victory against Rest of SA and being the quickest of the lot is very likely to play in the first Test. Given the green tops in SA, India could do well to play three seamers and one spinner, with Pathan as the all rounder and fifth bowler. With Dravid likely to play in the first Test, Jaffer might have to sit out while Dada opens the innings with the eternally out of form Viru. After so many failures, the infamous law of averages and the return of Dravid should ensure that at least one or two of the top Indian batsmen do fire in the first Test! With a decent bowling attack to back it India might actually surprise SA, especially if they take their opposition lightly.
Adjusting to the conditions in SA after playing for an extending time in the sub-continent has been the challenge faced by team India. With the ODI series behind them and a morale boosting win in the match again Rest of SA, the Test match might just be the start of the turn around.
Pakora Korner 