Cricket
Proteas aim to topple India
2010-02-04 08:17
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Proteas' batting coach Kepler Wessels (File)
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Nagpur - South Africa will draw confidence from their record on the sub-continent as they seek to replace India at the top of the world rankings in their two-Test series starting on Saturday.
India dislodged South Africa as the number one Test side in December after beating Sri Lanka 2-0 at home, and a series victory against the Proteas would consolidate their position.
South Africa can snatch back the coveted ranking only if they win the series 2-0. A 1-0 victory would leave both teams level on 123 points.
"India now hold the mantle of number one in the world, which is a credit to the way they have played," South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said ahead of the first Test in Nagpur.
"But we have come here to hopefully play better than them, and take it away from them. That's something we are talking about."
Smith said it was tough to win a series in the sub-continent and success is "a real feather in your cap."
"But we won in Pakistan on our last tour there, we won in Bangladesh, we came very close to winning the series here in India. We were 1-0 going into the last Test, so I think generally we have played well," he said.
On their last tour of India in 2008, South Africa won on a greentop in Ahmedabad, before the hosts levelled the series on a turning wicket in Kanpur. The first Test was drawn.
The task this time appears more daunting for South Africa, who are going into the series after a week of turmoil at home that ended in the resignation of long-serving coach Mickey Arthur.
And the entire selection committee, headed by former Test all-rounder Mike Procter, was sacked following a 1-1 series draw to England at home.
National high performance coach Corrie van Zyl has taken over from Arthur for the Indian tour, which also features three one-day internationals after the Tests.
India are depleted by injuries to key players - sustained during a 2-0 away victory over Bangladesh - upsetting the team combination.
Rahul Dravid, a vital cog in the middle order, is recuperating after undergoing surgery for a fractured jaw while the aggressive Yuvraj Singh is nursing a sore left wrist.
Dhoni, India's first-choice wicketkeeper, has also been suffering from a troublesome back, forcing the national selectors to pick uncapped Wriddhiman Saha as his cover in the 15-man Test squad.
The Indian pace attack will be without the mercurial Shanthakumaran Sreesanth who impressed against Sri Lanka, before being laid low by a hamstring injury in Bangladesh.
India's chairperson of selectors Krish Srikkanth conceded Dravid's experience will be missed, but he was confident the hosts would do well in the series.
"A player of Rahul's calibre, experience and expertise will be missed by any team," the former Test opener told the Mumbai-based Daily News and Analysis (DNA) newspaper.
"We still have a competent side. We have the most feared batsman in the world in Viru (Virender Sehwag), the best opening pair in the world in Viru and Gautam Gambhir, and then we have a great player like Sachin Tendulkar."
Srikkanth predicted a well-fought series between what he said were "very good, balanced sides with all-round abilities."
"They are the two best sides in the world. South Africa have been playing well. Having said that, I can declare that we are capable of winning the series. I can't say by what margin, though."
The second and final Test will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from February 14.
Squads and officials for the first Test between India and South Africa starting at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur on Saturday:
India (from):
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha
South Africa (from):
Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Alviro Petersen, Mark Boucher, Paul Harris, Johan Botha, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Steve Davis (AUS)
TV umpire: Amiesh Saheba (IND)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)