Daniel Laidlaw

Allan Donald says all fast bowlers fancy bowling at India’s top 5 and former spinner and wild man Pat Symcox has signalled this tour could mean doom for India’s captain. The South African cricket war machine is already rumbling.

Like the Australians, the South Africans are not averse to firing the first shots pre-series, just one of many difficulties to contend with on what shapes as a defining tour for India. The verbal jabs can either be ignored or, as Ganguly did when the Aussies were in his backyard, countered with some declarations of your own.

What would annoy South Africa the most? Ganguly, more astute at the public relations game than first thought, is already on the right track. India has faced better teams, Ganguly says. He struck at South Africa’s most sensitive area by suggesting they were not as good as they’re closest adversaries, Australia. How better to prick the pride than that?

Opponents despise an uppity underdog and to the South Africans, that’s what the Indians are. From the Symcox quotes, you can derive that South Africa don't rate India highly, despite words to the contrary from the necessarily more diplomatic captain Shaun Pollock.

Short of having someone genuinely quick and nasty to intimidate, respect will have to be earned by taking wickets. Zaheer, Nehra, Prasad or whoever may be selected have to support Srinath in making a substantial impact on the series in what should be a bowler’s tour. As well as being the players most likely to win matches, these seam bowlers are also the statement-makers. As long as the batsmen are providing adequate totals, it's the bowling that will leave the strongest impression, whether successful or otherwise.

Donald has already put in his pitch request - fast and bouncy to keep the batsmen on the back foot, please - but India has to take the view that whatever suits them, suits us. Although the fast bowling quality is inferior to what South Africa can call upon, India’s younger brigade and even Srinath and Prasad don’t get that many opportunities to bowl on the kind of pitches anticipated. Instead of fearing how the batsmen will deal with the conditions, the positive approach would be relishing what the seamers may do with this rare opportunity.

Let's not kid ourselves, though. South Africa’s batsmen are entirely at ease with the kind of bowling they will face and there is still an enormous leap in performance to be made in order to restrict South Africa to the kind of totals that will keep the Tests competitive going into the fourth innings.

The threats come from all sides and are multi-pronged. Ganguly has been reported as saying Donald stands alone as South Africa’s main bowling menace and that Australia is in a class of its own, and he is right. Pollock has a superb record and may eventually be regarded as a great bowler, but in terms of pace and sheer ability to blitz a team, Donald is unmatched by his team-mates. And it is so outrageous to say so that the South African board was also reported as having sent Ganguly’s comments to their team. The perfect riposte now would be to declare that the Proteas must be struggling for motivation if they need something that innocuous from the opposing captain to inspire them. Besides, the supposedly derogatory comments about Kallis and Pollock are mysteriously absent from the article in question. They are assumed by the singular praise of Donald.

Apparently, it is acceptable for Donald to lay out India’s deficiencies and describe how fast bowlers fancy their chances against the top five, but not all right for Ganguly to say he’s played better teams.

When you have to face a batsman of Tendulkar’s class, all opposition like to think they have developed a special plan that if implemented correctly, is a sure-fire success. They convince themselves that there is a weakness to be exploited if a plan is executed just right. They need to believe something. The Australians, for instance, felt that Tendulkar could be undone by testing his patience, keeping the ball wide of off and moving away before bringing it closer and having him launch into a drive away from his body.

In his CricInfo column, Donald reveals that the South Africans think the best chance of dismissing Tendulkar is by bowling him through the gate with the one that comes back the other way. With so many "weaknesses" it's a wonder Sachin makes any runs at all.

Truthfully, Donald's approach, and undoubtedly that of his team-mates, is correct. Respect for the abilities of the batsmen you are against, but total belief in your ability to overmatch them.

When the Test action kicks off next month there will be far more serious concerns than words. In the last two years, Kallis is averaging 55, Kirsten 47 and Gibbs, since his ban, 53. That’s a powerful top three. If Cullinan returns, he adds another 70 Tests worth of experience and an average of 53 against India. None of these wickets come cheaply and only high quality bowling will be sufficient. Then there is Pollock (who himself is averaging 52.5 with the bat in the last 12 months), Klusener and Boucher in the lower-order to worry about.

With the opposition focus naturally on Tendulkar and the destruction of the captain’s confidence, there is a chance, albeit slight, that Rahul Dravid will not be afforded the attention he deserves. Along with Tendulkar, Dravid is best equipped to succeed in South Africa. He is a batsman with the experience and temperament to play comfortably off the back foot for the duration and has performed respectably against South Africa. Dravid is not one of the batsmen you envision playing away from his body too often, critical on wickets with seam and bounce where the margin for error in such shots is much smaller. Which brings us to just how India are going to score their runs to give the bowler’s a fighting chance at winning matches.

The favourite scoring shots of many, front-foot drives, are immediately out of the question as a main avenue of scoring. Opponents know it’s an Indian strength and South Africa will be sure to provide few opportunities for it. The difficulty for the batsmen may be recognising how risky it is to drive.

Though the length bowled may be akin to what they would normally come forward to, the extra bounce and additional movement off the wicket is sure to see a surfeit of edges to Boucher and the slips cordon if the batsmen drive off the front foot indiscriminately. Pollock and Kallis will probably aim to consistently keep the ball back of a length and have the Indians caught between coming forward and back. The hand-eye skills of Ganguly and Laxman, who like to back their timing more than their footwork, will be supremely tested.

The most productive shots may be a little foreign. One imagines the Indian batting group will have most success when driving off the backfoot and one of the most important strokes for a productive series against a patient attack could be the leave outside off. With the increased bounce, there is extra scope to let the ball pass unthreateningly if the bowlers don’t pitch it up enough.

Then, of course, there are the horizontal-bat shots. Executing the cuts and pulls square of the wicket will be essential if the Proteas think they can win by pitching short. The openers (and Ganguly, of course) might face this more than most, as South Africa will have noted the way Das followed rising deliveries with his gloves against the Aussies. Any deficiencies here will be devastating, for the psychological boost it will give the fast bowlers as much as anything.

India will likely face the best bowlers South Africa can offer, from this generation and the next. Veteran champion Donald will probably have overcome his ailments by Test time and the reputedly fast and exciting Mfuneko Ngam, on the comeback trail from injury, is the face of the future. Similar to how Brett Lee exploded onto the scene two years ago, it’s doubtful India would have prepared for Ngam too extensively and he shapes as a dangerous wildcard. Pollock’s McGrath-esque ability is well known and Makhaya Ntini is an established member of the side, though has struggled lately. The only weak link will be the spinner, be it Boje, Adams or Henderson.

It is to be hoped the lessons from the last tour of Australia are not dismissed, as this tour will follow the same disastrous path if they are. Then, the batting crumbled for some of the reasons expressed above, and the bowling was inconsistent. A South African tour will similarly allow no such lapses.

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