145;One win here can change everything146;

HIS cap missing, his hair in a mess, but that jaw firmly set, South African skipper Graeme Smith is back. After some valuable time away from the babble, after a practice stint with former Test opener Jimmy Cook. With jut three days to go for the second Test, the mission, he says, is very clear: get some runs against his name, get a win. 8220;We want to turn things around. We know that one win for us here can change everything around. We just have to wake up and perform better. In our hearts, in our minds, we know we are capable of beating India,8221; said Smith, minutes before joining his team for their first round of nets after losing the first Test at Johannesburg.

Break away

8226; I have been busy with cricket things. I have had my own time, too. I really needed some time for myself, for my own game. So I have been doing that. I was also relaxing, just getting away from it. I think there was a lot of crap going on this week, so I was just trying to get on with my life.

Own batting

8226; I worked on a few things. Obviously, a few technical things come in when you don8217;t have enough time in the middle. You don8217;t feel comfortable, you end up searching for things. So the last few days I have spent time in the middle, in some practice that I had organised and I just batted. It has been great to have some time for myself, get away from the things that have been going on, the functions, the appearances.

But what went wrong?

8226; Our execution of plans was not good. We had an opportunity on Day 1 but we didn8217;t put in enough in the right areas. And when we batted, I think everyone saw we were poor. When you are under pressure as a team, the best thing is to keep it simple, and not lose sight of what makes you the team that you are. So there won8217;t be any radical changes this week.

Toughest time as captain?

8226; I think so. Our performance at home is something we always pride ourselves in. So not performing well in a Test match at home means there is always going to be pressure. The public is very demanding, they want results, and it shows they care. I think that pressure sort of boils up when you are at home.

It8217;s all in the mind

8226; Mentally, we need to be up for the game. It8217;s that time of the year where mentally we need to be at our strongest. It8217;s holiday season, everyone else is on holiday, it8217;s Christmas, so mentally we will have to be very strong during this period.

And some team tinkering

8226; I don8217;t want to speculate too much now. But yes, there probably will be one or two line-up changes in the top six. AB de Villiers going to be upfront opening with Smith is probably going to be one, and Herschelle Gibbs at No 6.