Such a key series should have been a grand showcase event played over five, or at the very minimum, a three Test series.  Instead what we have is a hastily patched together two Test series followed by three One-dayers.  

And the hasty and unimaginative scheduling means that it does not feel at all like the World Championship of Test cricket.  Adding to that feeling is that the main course, the Test series, has been scheduled before what should have been the appetizer, i.e. the One-dayers.  In defense of this back to front schedule one can say that India are in Test match mode, having played two Tests in Bangladesh recently.  Additionally, the solitary two day, 15-a-side, “match” before the series adds to the feeling of hasty, make-shift, “kaam chalaoo” nature of the schedule. 

But make no mistake, both teams will be going hard for the top spot.  South Africa will hope the wickets provide some assistance to their powerful pace unit, while India will hope that the wickets at least provide a modicum of assistance to their spinning strength. 

India will also be worried about the absence of Rahul Dravid and potentially VVS Laxman.  The team has included Rohit Sharma, as cover for Laxman, in case he is not fit enough to play the first match.  If India go in with Murali Vijay, all of 4 Tests old, and Test debutants S. Badrinath and Rohit Sharma, they will have as inexperienced a batting line-up as they have not had since maybe the mid 1990s when Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their Test debuts together in England.  However, if Badrinath and Sharma, do even half as well as Dravid and Ganguly on debut, then India should be OK.

South Africa on the other hand seem to have all their pieces in place, including a strong batting line up and an awesome set of pace bowlers, led by the pacy and penetrative Dale Steyn, whose strike rate of a wicket every six or seven overs, is among the best of all time, and better than such legendary bowlers as Alan Donald, Waqar Younis and Malcolm Marshall. His partner will be the fast and furious Morne Morkel. The Indian fans will be breathing a sigh of relief that the iconic and irrepressible Makhaya Ntini will however not be in the team. 

As usual South Africa will have the competent and combative Mark Boucher, behind the stumps, and their ground fielding will be a level or two above India’s.  The one potential weak link for South Africa is their spin bowling.  But India should not take even that aspect lightly, as a long line of rookie spinners, including several pedestrian practitioners of the art, such as Messrs. Udal and Krejza, have shown the folly of such overconfidence.

Another aspect that Dhoni and his men will have to keep in mind is that South Africa, are among the very best tourists to India.  Not since the heyday of the West Indies under Lloyd and Richards has a visiting side, so consistently pushed India, which is truly a totally different proposition at home.  South Africa has lost only one series in India, winning or drawing all the others, which is in quite a contrast to even the mighty Australians who during the same time frame have lost four series in India and won only one.

So India are in for a short, but intense challenge to their supremacy in Test cricket, and if they thought getting to the top was tough, they haven’t seen anything yet.  However, as he has shown in the past, Mahendra Singh Dhoni loves a challenge, and this is surely a big one. The Indian team is well aware that if they win this series, they can have an extended stay at the top of world cricket.  But if they slip up, the sharp knives will be out in a flash.

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