‘Bounce them out’, that is what we used to hear from an Australian or a South African captain or for that matter from a Kiwi captain. Once the Indian team was on tours and by on tours I mean outside the sub-continent , down under and on the safari to Africa, the stage was set. Stage not for a great series to look forward to, but the stage for the opposition to hit India where it hurt most. A Test Series loss and that too a guaranteed one. And as time went by, as more tours went by, the very fact was accepted. We cannot win a Test Series in Australia and South Africa. Have pitches, with lots of grass and that’s it. The grass itself was timorous enough for us and before the toss itself; it was Game Set and Match for the opposition.
But then as we have in our stories. That was ‘Once upon a time’. Not anymore. First it was the bowlers who responded. At Perth, Ishant Sharma had Ricky Ponting on the mat for a good half an hour before the Aussie captain finally gave in-edging one to the slips. That led to the crumble and India going on to win the Test match at Perth, considered to be the fastest track in the world. Then we had Sreesanth’s spell at Johannesburg where his five wicket haul paved the way for India’s first victory on South African soil. His release has always been immaculate and that was something that the experts of the game sat up and took notice of, his cult always on the rise since then. And the most recent win in Durban considered being the bounciest track in the world. India missed Zaheer in the first test and the result was to be seen, beaten black and blue. But once he was back in the side, like a magic wand, he spread his charm to Ishant & Sreesanth who also responded with dream spells. Along with Bhajji and a VVS special, the mother of all battles as it was quoted in the media lived up to its expectations with India winning the Test and the series going into the decider at Cape Town with both teams at 1-1.
And during this entire stretch from Perth to Durban we always have had Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to back up the good work by the bowlers. And of course Virender Sehwag, who has literally demolished the opposition single handedly on many a occasions.
As you read, we are into the 4th day of the Test match at Newlands with India having taken a slender two run lead courtesy the little master Sachin Tendulkar having gone on to score his 51st century and a good steady innings by Gautam Gambhir and a fantastic counter attacking knock by Harbhajan Singh. There was a time when a 300+ score by the opposition would be considered good enough and sometimes even enough for an innings win. But now foreign teams are uncertain what pitch to offer the Indians-green and seeming or flat and hard-because it’s now a double edged sword.
The Indian team would have arrived in South Africa with the mindset that every toss here would be a bowl first decision. And I am sure that some members would have come there thinking that they will be batting first in all the Test’s considering Dhoni’s recent run of luck or no luck as I would say with the toss. But then we have the ‘Law of Averages’ and Dhoni did win the toss at Newlands and put South Africa to bat , and what we had was another excellent bowling performance to keep South Africa to 360 odd runs although it is still somewhere around a 100 more than what Dhoni would have liked after winning the toss. Credit undoubtedly goes to Jacques Kallis who played yet another stunner to get South Africa there.
The Indian bowlers have complimented the Indian batsmen very well over the past few years and that’s the very reason why Dhoni’s final frontier as is said by the media which is South Africa looks very much a reality. Winning a Test series in South Africa is never easy and will never be, especially when the opposition has top quality fast bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morkel and that too in absolute hostile conditions for the batsmen. But the batsmen have very much stood up to the task and in a way confronted their own demons. As a result, the series has lived up to the expectations, and what we have on our platter is 2 days of pure, on the edge stuff coming up. This Test promises to be another humdinger as by the looks of it, we will know the winner not before the 5th day. Hope India pulls off this Test match and goes beyond the greens and conquers it in its truest sense.
