da apostaganha： The Indians now have no option butto play the four-day game against Rest of South Africa with fullintensity, in the hope that their misfiring batsmen will finally get someruns on the board ahead of the first Test, which starts in Johannesburg onDecemb
Dileep Premachandran in Potchefstroom06-Dec-2006
Leading from the front: ‘VVS Laxman has always been rated as an astuteleader on the domestic circuit, but this will be his first experience ofleading the Indians’ © Getty Images
In other circumstances, this would have been just a nondescript tour game,an opportunity to rest some big names and try out some new faces. Buthaving started the tour so miserably, the Indians now have no option butto play the four-day game against Rest of South Africa with fullintensity, in the hope that their misfiring batsmen will finally get someruns on the board ahead of the first Test, which starts in Johannesburg onDecember 15.With Rahul Dravid still on the mend after a fractured finger, VVS Laxman,who flew in less than a week ago, will lead a side that includes threeformer captains – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.Laxman, a pleasant peaceable man, has always been rated as an astuteleader on the domestic circuit, but this will be his first experience ofleading the Indians.Ganguly’s return after nearly a year ago is eagerly anticipated, butshouldn’t obscure the larger picture – that each man in the top order hasstruggled for form in recent times. Wasim Jaffer was included in theone-day side, but made just 10 runs from two innings, while neither SachinTendulkar nor Virender Sehwag could produce even a smidgen of the qualitythat their team-mates have come to expect from them.Tendulkar, who has some bruising on the bone in his forearm, should be fitto play, and the Indians will leave out Gautam Gambhir. Irfan Pathan, whopicked up a Test hat-trick while leading the attack less than a year ago,will occupy the allrounder’s slot, leaving the pace bowling in the handsof Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth and VRV Singh. Zaheer has been around for yearswithout being able to nail down a place, while Sreesanth and VRV have fiveTest caps between them. With Anil Kumble rested for the game, and MunafPatel looking increasingly unlikely to play the first Test, it’s very mucha case of learning on the job for the younger quick bowlers.They will be up against fairly formidable opposition. Jacques Rudolph andJustin Kemp have represented the national team in recent times, whileMornantau Hayward and Paul Adams are faces from the past. Jean Paul Duminyis a highly-rated batsmen, as is Alviro Peterson. And in his last-pagecolumn in SA Cricket magazine, Allan Donald spoke in glowing terms aboutthe 1.93m Morne Morkel, who many South Africans see as their next bigpace-bowling hope.Morkel, Hayward, Garnett Kruger and Vernon Philander should give theIndians a taste of what lies in store at the Wanderers, and Paul Adams’sfrog-in-a-blender action will raise a few eyebrows. But Sedgars Park israted by most as the flattest pitch in South Africa, and India will hopethat this quiet university town in South Africa’s northwest signified afork in the road after several months of misery.TeamsRest of South Africa: 1 Morne van Wyk (wk), 2 Alviro Peterson, 3Jean Paul Duminy, 4 Jacques Rudolph (capt), 5 Vaughn van Jaarsveld, 6Justin Kemp, 7 Vernon Philander, 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Mornantau Hayward, 10Garnett Kruger, 11 Paul Adams.Indians: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 VVS Laxman (capt), 4Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni(wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 VRV Singh, 11 Sreesanth.