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Preview : Injured Indians out to defend their numero uno tag.Filed under
1sttest-Nagpur2010
Sheldom, rookies outshine seniors and win their team a test match. A champion test team, often, is built around experienced players who have cooked themselves in adverse conditions and know how to fight back..India and South Africa, after decades of dedications, are currently the number 1 & 2 test teams in the world and as they go head to head in Jaypee cup 2 match series today onwards, the question to be asked is are these two teams integrating or disintegrating? For home team, Rahul Dravid has a broken jaw, Yuvraj Singh out due to fragile finger and last we heard, VVS Laxman's stitched thumb hasn't healed completely as yet and may miss this Nagpur game. MS Dhoni's bad back is hungry for an extended break (which he may never get) while S Sreesanth is back into rehab. South Africans, on other hand, have left their highest wicket taker Makhaya Ntini back home for bad form and Neil McKenzie, who played megnificently on last tour to India, is now fighting Koplak battle with his board. South Africans thrice failed to take 20 wickets in their last test series at home against England and barely managed to do it in last test to save the series, thanks to a seaming pitch. Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha from Indian side while South Africans Wayne Parnell, Ryan McLaren, Alviro Petersen and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have waited their way into test arena and it's now upto them to grab their chance. Fact : India needs to draw this 2 test match series to retain ICC number 1 ranking to which, 1 April 2010 is the cut-off date and a prize money of $175,000. South Africans will have to win this series to regain test mace they surrendered to India on December 6 last year or satisfy with a reward of $75,000 as second best team. Records : MS Dhoni, after 11 tests and almost 2 years as captain of India, is undefeated. India have won 8 and drawn 3 in Dhoni's leadership. India have won all of their last 4 tests, equalling their best winning streak since they started playing tests 77 years ago. Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag, with 2778 runs between them, are only 233 runs behind Sunil Gawaskar + Chetan Chauhan as India's best opening pair ever. Playing XIsAmit Mishra was dropped tactically by Indian think tank in Bangladesh to test out Pragyan Ojha before this big series and it will be interesting who gets the node to partner Harbhajan Singh in spin department while South Africans have to decide on Johan Botha, the offspinner or left arm othodox Paul Harris as well as between Wayne Parnell, the left arm seamer or Ryan McLaren, the right handed allrounder.India (likely) : Gautam Gambhir, Virendra Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman/Rohit Sharma, Subramaniam Badrinath, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. South Africa : Graeme Smith, Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Paul Harris/Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell. Head to head23rd India v South Africa test match it will be. India have won 5, South Africa 10 with 7 draws. In India, it will be 11th meeting with both teams winning 4 games and drawing twice. At Nagpur, they'll play each other for the first time.Pitch reportGenerally a placid batting strip specially in one day matches, expect some spin out of VCA square from second or third day onwards but it's the bounce that will interest both teams. Weather in Nagpur has been cloudy recently which should suit swing bowlers as well while reverse swing, due to rough outfield, may be a deciding factor.QuotesIndia now hold the mantle of number one in the world, which is a credit to the way they have played. But we have come here to hopefully play better than them, and take it away from them, says South Africa captain Graeme Smith."We are not worried about rankings", says Indian captain MS Dhoni.
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