India can defy history, says Srinath

Javagal Srinath knows all about the challenge of playing in South Africa. He is a veteran of three Test tours to the Rainbow Nation — all three ending in bitter defeats. The former India pace spearhead is well aware of the standards expected to match the Proteas in their home territory.

It should infuse MS Dhoni and Co with a lot of confidence that Srinath believes the current Indian team has what it takes to defy history in South Africa.

“I don’t buy the logic that we can’t play well abroad. The Indian team has been playing pretty well in all conditions for the last three-four years,” Srinath told DNA.

For inspiration, Srinath said, India can look at their win in the first Test at Johannesburg of the 2006-07 series. It proves that South Africa can be beaten at home.

“We won a Test there and we have made a huge improvement. My gut feeling is we should be able to win this one,” he declared.
India is looking to prove their credentials as worthy of the No 1 Test ranking and for Srinath there is no better place to test your mettle than South Africa.

Talking about his own playing experience, the Indian pace great, who has taken 43 wickets from eight Tests there, said he loved the true nature of the South African wickets.

“The wickets there offer a great balance between the bowling and batting. It is a fair ground to test anybody’s capabilities.”

Everyone is talking about South Africa’s chances because of their pace attack led by Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Srinath said India had the attack to match the home team’s arsenal. He felt Zaheer Khan & Co had the ability to exploit the pace and bounce of the wickets.

“It is tit for tat. In Zaheer, S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma, we have three good fast bowlers who can deliver.

“Steyn is the world’s No 1 bowler and he is playing to his strengths when he is bowling in South Africa. We have a bit of an advantage in swing and movement and they have pace and bounce. So we are on equal terms.

“It’s not the bowling, it’s the batsmen who will decide the series,” observed Srinath.

He said to be effective the bowlers will have to be smart enough to assess the conditions quickly and work out what suits best for them. “It’s a lot of hard work. You got to get your basics right. Getting your length right is the essence of bowling in South Africa.

“You will have to adjust according to your style. The swing bowlers will need to pitch it up and if you like to hit the deck, then you hit back of the length. Basically, the length will depend on the footwork of the batsman; where he is standing, whether he is standing too deep or outside the crease,” Srinath said.

India have lost all four Test series in South Africa since the inaugural four-Test series in the 1992-93 season which South Africa won 1-0. Srinath said India didn’t need to delve on what happened in the older tours. For him, the lessons to be learnt are in the 2006-07 series — analyse and learn from it.

“In the last series, we won a brilliant Test in Johannesburg; then they didn’t do well in the next two Tests. They will be aware of all these things. It is about consistency and teamwork.”
The Test connoisseur himself cannot wait for the action to begin. “Centurion, Durban and Cape Town — all three are wonderful grounds. It will be great to watch this series.”

SA series will be exciting: Srikkanth
Coimbatore: The selection committee chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth feels that the upcoming India-South Africa series would be ‘an exciting one’.

“Since both the teams are strong, the series is expected to be exciting,” he said on the sidelines of an event in Coimbatore on Monday.

“We (India) have a good batting and bowling line-up, so do  the South Africans. Also, they have certainly done their homework which means that there will be close contest in the Test series.”

Van Zyl wants UDRS in all Tests
Johannesburg: The Umpire Decision Referral System (UDRS) should be used in all Test matches, South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl said on Monday ahead of his team’s home series against India.

Van Zyl said “it would be fair and good for Test cricket” for it to be implemented across all series involving every nation. “I’ll be very honest, I would love to have had the referral system (in the series against India),” Van Zyl said. “I think the referral system needs to be (used) throughout all Tests.”