India Vs SA - A Preview
India are taking on South Africa at home for a 3 match test series kicking off on the 26th at Chennai. A series between these two teams has never generated as much excitement as a series against Australia,Pakistan, or even England. Considering the just concluded high voltage series down under the build-up to this series has been pretty meek.
South Africa have a superb record in test matches against India and they have also won a series in India under Cronje. Hence the hosts cannot take the visitors lightly and this will be a very tight series. The incentive for the team winning the series is the No.2 test spot in the ICC rankings and a chance to close the gap with the Aussies. Both teams are high on confidence and it will be the team that wins the crucial moments which will emerge victorious.
India's game plan will be to pile the runs on the board and attack the South African batsmen with the spinners. South Africa on the other hand will rely on the sheer pace of Dale Steyn to cripple the Indian batting. Paul Harris is their left-arm spinner and India have a history of trouble against left-arm spinners.
Some milestones to look forward to:
Sachin Tendulkar is 171 runs short of becoming the world's highest run scorer and though I wish he gets that in Chennai, it is more likely that he will achieve that in Ahmedabad, where a number of previous records have been broken.
However it is an interesting fact that South Africa is the only country against whom Sachin averages under 40 and I am sure he will be itching to change that.
Sachin also needs just 2 more catches to reach the landmark of 100 catches in tests.
Rahul Dravid is 80 runs short of reaching the 10000 run mark which will make him the third Indian batsman to reach the landmark. It will be a special moment in the career of a modern great and one of the most selfless cricketers India have ever produced.
Dravid is also 46 runs short of reaching a 1000 runs against the proteas. Again it is interesting to note that SA are the only country against whom he averages less than 40.
VVS Laxman needs 4 catches to reach 100 catches in test matches which will be a testament to his wonderful close catching skills.
Overall I am eagerly looking forward to watching some thrilling test-cricket and I hope the rain-gods allow us a full game at Chennai.
Labels: Cricket, India, South Africa, Test Series
posted by Raj at 5:49 pm
9 Comments:
More than personal milestones, this would be a chance for India to take on from where they left down under. A convincing series win with a stamp of authority should be a good step towards dislodging the Ozzies from the top spot. A dampener though would be that Indians have tamed even the Aussies at home when the Aussies were at their peak, and I have my doubts about the current SA line-up. Not a fair fight, but I am hoping I am wrong this once.
Never underestimate the South Africans, no series against them is easy. So whatever this series will be it will not be a cakewalk.
Grit, attitude and all that, I'll give the Proteas. But I still fear it'd be a lopsided series. I'd be surprised if they can pull off more than a draw, though I would like each game to go down the wire too. We'll know soon :).
One thing is for sure. Indians will win the series easily, not bcoz of the momentum they had from the australian summer but this is a brand new southafrican team when comes to handling indian conditions. Barring kallis and boucher nobody has played hardly test match cricket and that too facing the indian spinners music..
Any day anytime my money is on india atleast in test matches :)
Nice statistics and nice comments :)
As you said, I too hope that the rain gods show some mercy on Chennai. Every time we blame the organizers for scheduling a match in Chennai during Oct-nov time frame. This time, it comes in march and yet there is a threat of rain. :(
I'll atleast follow the series through daily news :)
After seeing the first days play I guess we can rule out an easy series for India. Lets see how this is going to pan out.
watched it live at the stadium da =).. gonna be there for the next three days too - fri sat and sun (bought a pavilion ticket :).. Thought dale steyn would threaten us a bit..but then the mammoth total posted by proteas and shewag's quick fifty reminded me that chennai pitch is just a dust bowl & a real flat track. Lets see if we can manage a result.
Awesome Kartik...wish I was there too!!
But I am really surprised there are so few ppl in the stadium. Have never seen chepauk so empty for a test match. What's happening?
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