No chance for India this time too: South Africa skipper Kepler Wessels

Former South Africa skipper Kepler Wessels says India will not be able to outlast the home team. Excerpts:

You seem to have said recently that India are under prepared for the series. Can you elaborate?
What I said was playing a warm-up match is the best way to prepare for a series, particularly for a Test series. They have not had any match practice. All that they have had was some stuff at the nets. It is not an ideal way to prepare for an important series like this one. It would have been better if they had played at least one four-day game in South African conditions.

But do you agree that this is the best Indian team to be touring South Africa?
Not really. I don’t think this team is any better than the ones that toured South Africa before.

Do you mean to say like the previous teams, this team too does not have a chance to beat South Africa?
The current Indian team is a strong team but not definitely better than the previous teams. So I think South Africa should win this time too. They play very well in home conditions.

If India have to win, what should they do?
They have to bat better. They never really batted well before. The only batsman who averages above 40 here is VVS Laxman. The Indians have to do a lot better than that.

You should agree that Virender Sehwag is a different batsman than he was in the last tour.
I have a lot of respect for Sehwag but he has never batted well in South Africa. He has got enough ability. His clash with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will be one of the highlights of the series. I will be watching this with a lot of interest.

What about Sachin Tendulkar?
He is a very experienced batsman and I expect him to do well. He is on the verge of a milestone but I’m sure it will not have any impact on him. I think he will not worry about it. If it comes along, it should be fine. But I will expect the Indian team to not be bogged down by that factor.

The Indian bowling has some quality pacers which means South Africa’s reported plan to have bouncy and green top may backfire. Do you agree?
There is no Zaheer Khan in the first Test. That is a big blow for India. He is by far the best Indian fast bowler. He could have made a difference. Without Zaheer, the Indian attack is good but not exceptional.

You have coached MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings. What
way is he different from other captains who have toured
South Africa?
He has done well for India but I’m not sure how his captaincy record is stacked up with Sourav Ganguly’s. I wish to comment on his captaincy only after the series. It will be surely tested here and so will be his batting ability. From India’s point of view, his batting will be very important because they don’t have an all-rounder.

You seem to have said that Gary Kirsten wanted to come home early and so he took the team to Cape Town. What did you mean by that?
I thought it was not the right way to prepare. But Gary wanted his batsmen to acclimatise to South African conditions by playing in the nets. Hopefully, from his point of view, it will work. We will have to wait and see if that strategy was right.

What about this talk of Kirsten taking over as the SA coach?
I don’t know what Cricket South Africa thinks on this matter. I’m sure they will explore all sorts of options and Gary will be one of them. Gary has done well for the Indian team and has established himself as a good international coach. So he must be an attraction.

You were supposed to take over from Corrie van Zyl after the 2011 World Cup?
I’m not ready for that job because of my other professional commitments. I cannot get into full time coaching because of my consultancy work elsewhere. I’m quite happy to be doing what I’m doing.

So what’s your final take on the series?
If the groundsmen have prepared the sort of surfaces that we
know the South Africans are successful on, then that will be difficult for India to outlast the South African team in five days. They will have to play the bouncing ball very well.