Publications
Partners
New Delhi - South Africa captain Graeme Smith gave a thumbs-up to the strip at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium which will host its first international match on Thursday after serving a one-year ban.
One of India's oldest stadiums, Kotla was slapped the ban after an India v Sri Lanka one-day international in December 2009 had to be abandoned because of a dangerous pitch.
Since then, International Cricket Council's (ICC) pitch consultant Andy Atkinson has been a frequent visitor to Delhi to oversee the remedial work at the venue. ICC finally reinstated the ground as an international arena late last year.
"I think we are all aware of what has happened in Delhi," Smith told reporters ahead of Thursday's World Cup Group B match against West Indies at the venue.
"From our perspective and West Indies' perspective, it is an unknown factor. It (pitch) has been re-laid, there's been a few games played on it but it's an unknown factor for all of us.
"But I think you can see they have made a really big effort out here. The field is looking good, you can see they have put a lot of work into the surface. You got to commend them for that. Let's hope it all works out tomorrow."
South Africa remain one of the best teams never to have won the World Cup but Smith felt the balance in the team could help them go all the way this time.
"We now have pace, we have bounce, we have left-armers, we have got a few spin options. I think it will be more difficult to prepare against us, the variety is there.
"We will hopefully judge the conditions well and pick the right teams to play against our opposition.
"I think it's probably our best spin attack that we have ever had coming into the sub-continent. Most variety that we have ever had. We have got a lot of options, we have got three frontline spinners and also some batters who bowl spin.
"I think we have covered our bases for pretty much any conditions that we get. We have to try and pick the best team for the pitch that we come up against."
While he sees an enhanced role for the spinners in the sub-continent, Smith expects fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to hurt opponents with pace and bounce.
"There is always a place for genuine pace. I don't think anybody likes to face people who bowl at 155kph. If someone tells you they enjoy it, they are lying to you.
"I think having genuine pace in your team is always an asset in any World Cup. But still, you have got to get it right."
South Africa will rely to a large extent on wicketkeeper AB de Villiers while seeking review of umpiring decisions, Smith said.
"It's going to be a gut-feel thing for me. I'll have to trust AB also because I am not always going to be in a position to really judge the lines and where the ball has pitched," he said.
"You do have to have the trust factor in the people that are probably in better positions, but probably it will come down to gut-feel thing.
"We are going to have a good chat about it tonight and discuss how we want to handle it but I think we have got to trust the guys."
