Biff keeps ace up his sleeve

Nagpur - While Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is happy to reveal his selection options to an expectant Indian public, South Africa captain Graeme Smith proved far more reluctant when pressed on Friday.

Smith fenced with reporters before Saturday's game against India in Nagpur, admitting that he has "a few things up his sleeve." But he wasn't revealing what those things were.

"We have got the options available to us and I would not like to tell them today," Smith told reporters. "But I think, all in all, our bowlers have had a good amount of success against India and we obviously know each other pretty well."

South Africa, which has won two of its three games, is one of the most balanced sides, especially with a variety of bowlers at its disposal.

Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel form one of the better pace pairs in the tournament.

It also has a varied spin attack in Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir, left-arm spinner Robin Peterson and off-spinner Johan Botha.

Smith said the team, which beat the West Indies and the Netherlands with ease before succumbing to England in a low-scoring match, knew what it needed to do on Saturday.

Smith said he was not sure whether Tahir, who has taken 11 wickets in three matches, will play against India. he has been advised to rest a fractured thumb for 10 days.

"It is obviously a selection thing and we will decide it tonight," Smith said about Tahir. "He has bowled this week and come through that quite fine, it's just whether we need to risk him tomorrow or not."

"I think our unpredictability is something that stands us in good stead. Through the past, we have been predictable but we are a lot more difficult to plan against now," he said.

Smith kept his cool when he was asked yet against about South Africa's reputation of "choking" at key moments. Usually the question annoys him considerably.

"To be honest, the sanity within the squad is keeping all the outside influences out. Coming into the tournament no one said we were favorites. Suddenly you win two games and become favorites, you lose a game and suddenly you're not favorites any more," he said.

Smith also said it was not easy to work out when to peak in a long tournament like this.

"Everyone is trying to work out what the right method is. Some teams seem to get it right and who knows how they do it. It is weird that we have been in India for a month now and we have played only three games. But we have an opportunity now with a game every three or four days to build up some momentum," added Smith.