Anand Krishna’s musings

The Proteas have been among the most successful cricket teams in India. And that is saying a lot, given that even Steve Waugh’s all-conquering Australians viewed India as the final frontier. After their good performance in Australia a couple of months ago, Team India must justifiably have been on Cloud Nine. And their batting display at Chennai would have given them even more confidence. But that’s the beauty of cricket- one bad session can destroy any team’s morale. And that is exactly what happened last week at Ahmedabad. In less than 2 hours, India collapsed for 76 runs. Worse, South Africa piled on the runs- and misery- and finally won the match by an innings and 90 runs.

Not surprisingly, Team India is quite nervous on the eve of the series decider that starts at Kanpur tomorrow. Adding to their on-field performance is the question of fitnes of key players. First Sachin and now Kumble are likely to sit out. Ishant and Sreesanth are both fit- but the former hasn’t played a match since his return to India and the latter was not in the least penetrating at either Chennai or Ahmedabad. The South Africans have a mean 3-pronged pace attack, with Steyn and Ntini the spearheads. They can be dangerous on a green top, and even more so if the wicket does not offer much bounce and the ball keeps low.  India’s spinners too have not exactly decimated  the opposition in this series. Which therefore also makes it difficult for the BCCI (or Kumble) to suggest what kind of a wicket they would prefer- something that offers pace and bounce or something that is likely to crack in a day or two. Hobson’s choice, if you ask me. Finally, I think it will come down to which team bats more sensibly.

For the sake of Indian cricket fans, I hope the team shows more spunk than it has so far. But as always, may the team that plays better cricket over the 5 days, win. If India loses, it means without doubt that the Proteas, and not India, are deserving of the Number 2 spot on the ICC test rankings.