Nayars century gives South Africans a spin headache

The oldest member of the Board Presidents XI,26-year-old Abhishek Nayar,proved to be the most solid among the many young hopefuls...

The oldest member of the Board Presidents XI,26-year-old Abhishek Nayar,proved to be the most solid among the many young hopefuls who faced the might of the South African bowling attack on Tuesday. But despite what he described as his most satisfying knock ever 8212; a 140-ball 100 which included 16 fours 8212; the Mumbai all-rounder did not really enhance his chances of breaking into the Indian Test line-up with his ruthless attack against the South African spinners. What Nayar did achieve,however,was that he exposed a few frailties in the visiting sides bowling going into the two-match series.

Having walked in to bat well after Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel had finished their aggressive opening spells,Nayar had the best of conditions and the least penetrative of the South African bowlers to contend with. What was evident throughout the day was that whenever Graeme Smith took Steyn and Morkel out of the attack,the pressure lifted from the BP XI batsmen. In the end,it was not only the bulk of runs scored against the South African spinners 8212; 154 runs in 32 overs for one wicket 8212; but the manner in which the likes of Paul Harris and Johan Botha were treated by Manish Pandey,Shikhar Dhawan and Nayar that stood out.

With even more dangerous batsmen Virender Sehwag,Gautam Gambhir,Sachin Tendulkar,VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni to deal with from Saturday,this is not a good sign for Smith. South African bowling coach Vincent Barnes agreed that his spinners needed to step up in the coming days,but said the think-tank was patient with them. It is important that bowlers pick up wickets early during the tour and get used to these conditions. Paul Harris is no exception to that. But were happy that he did get a few overs under his belt, said Barnes.

Though Steyn and Morkel were at their fiery best this season,the South Africans had struggled to pick wickets once they were out of the attack even in the recent series against England. On Tuesday,Harris and Botha werent at their best,and in the circumstances it was JP Duminy who ended up being somewhat impressive with his off-spin.

Barnes was full of praise for Wayne Parnell,who ended up with three wickets,and was a decent foil for the opening combination. Wayne is still a young bowler but is learning all the time. All three seamers are different in their own way,but what is common is that they all have pace. He bowled a good aggressive opening spell,and followed it up with two more decent ones.