If SA beat India then they on track to challenge Australia end of 2008

By Ilhaam Hoosain
10 April 2008

It has been a long summer for the Proteas with 12 Test matches, 16 ODIs and eight Pro20 matches.

Victory over India, on Friday in the final Future Cup Test match starting would give them a 2-0 series victory to equal the achievement of Hansie Cronje’s squad in 2000.It would give South Africa their third successive series victory in the space of six months on the sub-continent, something that has never been attempted or achieved before.

This win could also give the Proteas the outright second position on the ICC Test log ahead of a side who were highly competitive against the Australian world champions a couple of months ago.

If the Proteas can win this series, then they will know that they are perfectly on track to challenge Australia in their away and home series at the end of the year.

The theme of Coach Mickey Arthur’s build-up to his players this week is, “Control the controllables and concentrate on your skills.”

“We always expected India to play with three spinners in all our preparation.

“We have shown our ability to play on all surfaces and against all opponents in the past. We demonstrated it in Pakistan and more recently in Bangladesh. We will be focused to do the job under whatever circumstances prevail. The preparation of the pitch is not something we can control,” commented Arthur.

The Proteas could consider Robin Peterson as a second spin bowler ahead of one of the pace trio that did so well at Ahmedabad. On the other hand, if the ball goes through the surface, then pace will probably be just as effective.

“If the pitch breaks up, then I would rather face their spinners than our own quicks operating at 140 to 150km/h,” commented batsman Jacques Kallis.