Publications
Partners
Cape Town - India coach Duncan Fletcher says his young and inexperienced team will arrive in South Africa without any mental baggage.
India have never won a Test series in South Africa and often arrived here with players carrying mental scars from previous tours where they struggled on the quicker and bouncier wickets.
Fletcher believes the relative inexperience of the team could actually prove to be beneficial.
"Because I constantly work with them, I haven't actually realised how inexperienced they are when it comes to matches played - and especially matches played in South Africa," he told the Beeld website.
"However, it could actually be a good thing because they haven't been hurt from previous tours here and they approach things with an open mind.
"I also feel we have a well balanced team with batsmen who have the capability to rack up runs, while our bowling line-up is a good mixture of quicks and spinners capable of bagging wickets."
While India's young batsmen are quite experienced in one-day cricket, they're still new to the Test arena.
Virat Kohli, who is tipped to take over from Sachin Tendulkar at No 4 in the Test line-up, has played 122 ODIs but only 20 Tests, while Rohit Sharma has only played two Tests compared to 111 ODIs.
New batting sensation, Shikhar Dhawan, has only played in three Tests and 28 ODIs. His five ODI hundreds this year is the most of any batsman in 2013.
Suresh Raina has also only played in 17 Tests, compared to 183 ODIs.
India will play three ODIs and two Tests against the Proteas, with the first ODI starting in Johannesburg on Thursday.
India have never won a Test series in South Africa and often arrived here with players carrying mental scars from previous tours where they struggled on the quicker and bouncier wickets.
Fletcher believes the relative inexperience of the team could actually prove to be beneficial.
"Because I constantly work with them, I haven't actually realised how inexperienced they are when it comes to matches played - and especially matches played in South Africa," he told the Beeld website.
"However, it could actually be a good thing because they haven't been hurt from previous tours here and they approach things with an open mind.
"I also feel we have a well balanced team with batsmen who have the capability to rack up runs, while our bowling line-up is a good mixture of quicks and spinners capable of bagging wickets."
While India's young batsmen are quite experienced in one-day cricket, they're still new to the Test arena.
Virat Kohli, who is tipped to take over from Sachin Tendulkar at No 4 in the Test line-up, has played 122 ODIs but only 20 Tests, while Rohit Sharma has only played two Tests compared to 111 ODIs.
New batting sensation, Shikhar Dhawan, has only played in three Tests and 28 ODIs. His five ODI hundreds this year is the most of any batsman in 2013.
Suresh Raina has also only played in 17 Tests, compared to 183 ODIs.
India will play three ODIs and two Tests against the Proteas, with the first ODI starting in Johannesburg on Thursday.
