TOP class seam bowling and steepling bounce was what the Indian batsmen had to deal with on their last tour of South Africa five years ago. Only a couple displayed the wherewithal to face Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock.
Rahul Dravid was one of them. He was quite pleased that he had come to terms with the conditions there. He had made 148 and 81 at The Wanderers.
Speaking to the press later, he had said, "It took such a long time to judge the bounce and leave the ball outside the off-stump."
The Indians had already lost the 1996-97 Castle Lager Test series 0-2, the South Africans having outplayed the visitors by huge margins at Kingsmead (Durban) and Newlands (Cape Town), but still the Indian batsmen showed tremendous reserve to battle it out and salvage some pride in the third and final Test. Dravid and Sourav Ganguly finally made their mark in this Test, which was interrupted on the fifth day by rain, and Darryl Cullinan thwarting the Indians with a majestic undefeated 122.
All attention was riveted on Dravid because he was not only putting up a fight, but was also instrumental in setting up the first chance of a win on this tour for his team. Dravid came into the third Test with scores of seven and 27 not out and two and 12. He batted at No. 6 at Kingsmead and opened the innings with Woorkeri Raman at Newlands.
The team management had asked him to open the innings in the place of Vikram Rathore. This move failed. He was not reverted to No. 6 in the third Test, but asked to bat at the crucial No. 3 slot. This time he was mentally prepared to face the South African fast bowlers because the new set of openers (third on the tour) in Rathore and Nayan Mongia had shown a little more guts and adequacy in facing the likes of Donald, Pollock, Brian McMillan and Lance Klusener.
The opening pair (Raman/ Rathore at Kingsmead) and (Raman/Dravid at Newlands) were separated at identical scores of two and seven in the first two Tests, the Indians being shot out for 66 and 100 in the first Test. In the event, the start given by Rathore (13 and 44) and Mongia (21 and 50) at The Wanderers was regarded as exceptional. They put on 25 runs in the first innings and 90 in the second. It led to the improved performance of not only Dravid but also left-hander Ganguly, who made 73 and 60.
Seam and bounce were the factors that puzzled the Indians at Kingsmead. A local even had the temerity to say that the Indians would have been shot out for scores less than what they made (66 and 100) had there been cloud cover over Kingsmead. But Dravid's observation (after his big effort at The Wanderers) that for the first time he felt sure while judging the bounce and leaving the ball only confirmed that many of the Indian batsmen (the openers in main) did not have sufficient skills to face Donald & co.
The Indians will be up against speed, seam movement and bounce yet again while on their third tour of South Africa in 10 years and also the terrific passion and commitment of the home team. Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman from this squad who has been on both the earlier tours. He made 111 at The Wanderers in 1993 and a spectacular 169 at Newlands in 1996-97. Returning from the lay-off owing to the big-toe related injury which saw him miss the Sri Lanka tour, the pocket sized champion is expected to lead India's batting challenge.
Tendulkar will have two able companions in Dravid (who totalled 277) and Ganguly (he tallied 202). But as coach John Wright has said and reiterated several times since last October, the Indians need to get a good start to make the middle-order in Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman, Tendulkar and Ganguly more powerful. The onus will be on young Shiv Sundar Das and Sadagopan Ramesh (should he be declared fit for the Test series) to see through the new ball.
The selection of Das, who met with success against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka and was put through the wringer by Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, for the first part of the tour has been made clear by the Indian selectors. "We want him to get used to the conditions and fast bowlers," said Chairman Chandu Borde. With the third team in the tri-series being Kenya, the Indians feel confident of figuring in the final. Obviously the plan is to make Das face Shaun Pollock & co should India notch up expected wins over Kenya.
The next couple of months will be full of anticipation for the supporters of Indian cricket. The Indians savoured the home wins against Zimbabwe and Australia, but failed to deliver the knock-out punch on Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe after winning the first Test in Bulawayo. What happened in Sri Lanka was most disappointing, although they managed to pull one through. As coach Wright said, "One dreadful session (in Harare) cost us the series in Zimbabwe." But after the defeat against Sri Lanka, Wright's remarks were damning: "They (Indians) did not deserve to win." He attributed it to poor application of the fundamentals of the game.
Though Wright said that "It's good we are playing the tri-series first" the Indians will have little time to settle down and adjust their technique before the first Test in Bloemfontein. The Indians have been given just one three-day match against the President's XI at Chatsworth (near Durban) and a four-day game before the back-to-back second and third Tests in Port Elizabeth and at The Centurion. "But I think the Test batsmen would have spent nearly 40 days in that country before the first Test. That's a long time to get used to the conditions," said Wright.
The Indians have played seven Test matches in South Africa. Two in Durban, two in Cape Town, two in Johannesburg and one in Port Elizabeth and have lost three, all by big margins. This time around they will be playing at new venues in Bloemfontein and The Centurion. Five years ago, they played a three-day game at Bloemfontein and drew the match in which Rathore made a century (115) and a half century (50) before his improved showing in the third Test at The Wanderers. The Indians played a one-day match there in 1992 and won it by four wickets. So they have some knowledge about these two grounds.
Looking back, the Friendship Series in 1992 did not turn to be a rout for the Indians. It was only in their seventh innings of the Test series that the South Africans managed to put up a score of over 300, after winning the third Test by nine wickets. It was different though under the captaincy of Hansie Cronje four years later. The Indians were beaten by 382 runs and 282 runs at Kingsmead and Newlands respectively. This happened immediately after the home series in which the Indians trounced the South Africans in Ahmedabad and Kanpur, in between losing the second Test in Calcutta.
But even in times of utter disappointment and despair there were bright sparks in the form of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad. Srinath, the bowler responsible for swinging the Test match in India's favour at Motera with a six-wicket haul, and Prasad teamed up to check the South African total to 235 and 259 on a helpful Kingsmead pitch. Prasad took 10 wickets and Srinath five. Srinath went on to take 18 wickets and Prasad 17. An impressive performance that forced Cronje to say: "I think the series would have been much closer had they (Srinath and Prasad) received help from good back up seamers."
Both Srinath (approaching 200 wickets in Tests) and Prasad (approaching 100 wickets in Tests) have been picked for the tri-series. They should figure in the team for the Test series too. "I think their (Srinath and Prasad) experience will count a lot. So will that of batsmen Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman. In addition we have two world class spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh," said Wright.
The tour of South Africa will be the first of the three foreign tours the Indians will be making in the next 12 months. Early next year the Indians will be playing a Test series in the West Indies and thereafter a four-Test series in England. Batsmen like Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman are bound to see challenging situations and would like to count themselves as world class players and succeed. The same goes for Srinath, Prasad and Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan, who along with Virender Sehwag and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, was part of the Indian team in the MTN Under-19 World Cup in 1998.
The South Africans have built a reputation over the last 10 years. They have been beaten only once after their return to international cricket. They went through troubled times following Hansie Cronje's involvement with bookies, but his immediate successor, Shaun Pollock, has shown fire in leading the team as well as keeping his bowling quality high. They have gird up their loins, engaging themselves in an away series against Zimbabwe and when they return home they expect Allan Donald to be available for the Test match in his backyard, Bloemfontein.
As Dravid said after his brilliant effort five years ago, "It will be once again about adjusting quickly to the seam and bounce."
There was one great show of batting by Tendulkar (169) and Mohammed Azharuddin (115) at Newlands during the last tour when they hammered the South African fast bowlers all over the park. There will have to be at least half a dozen such efforts to match the South Africans this time around.
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