Weeding over, Dravid waits for spring

Then, quite unusually, he went on to announce Team India8217;s final 12 8212; minus an injured Munaf Patel, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Kaarthick and the unlucky Irfan Pathan. 8220;There8217;s a lot of ability in the squad; in the top six or seven batsmen, we8217;ve got people who8217;ve performed all over the world and we8217;ve got a couple of experienced spinners and a good young pace attack. So we8217;ve got the tools, it8217;s just a question of implementing them,8221; said Dravid.

Brave words that, from a brave man, who will pick up the bat over the weekend, possibly at No 3, shrugging off a fractured finger, to face one of the deadliest pace attacks in world cricket 8212; Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and the 150-rookie Dale Steyn.

And yes, the skipper is aware that all the twists and turns over the next month will have a huge impact on his job, that of his coach, and some of the key senior players in his team. Especially after the humiliating one-day collapse. Especially when you know that India have never won a Test in this country before, despite nine attempts in three visits.

8220;Well, as captain you tend to be a figurehead in some ways, so yes, in some ways you have to take the criticism if the side doesn8217;t do well. That8217;s part of the job and it comes with the territory and I accept it,8221; said Dravid.

He8217;s also been doing some motivating, getting his 8220;boys8221; to have a look at video clippings of those glory days, asking them to draw confidence from the West Indies victory of June. 8220;I8217;m just telling them to be positive, I8217;ve been telling them to remember the good performances we8217;ve had in the recent past in Test cricket. We8217;ve spoken about South Africa, the kind of strategies, the kind of lines and lengths we think they8217;ll bowl, the kind of lines and lengths we think we should bowl to them. Just general strategy, kind of things that will keep their spirits up,8221; he said.

But in the end, he knows it finally boils down to this: Indian batting vs South African bowling. And that8217;s why, despite the one-day flop, the skipper is sticking to the best names he can put up in the 8220;present scenario8221;. Which means, Virender Sehwag will open with Wasim Jaffer, Sourav Ganguly will play.

But Dravid8217;s 12 also raised two questions. Will India go in with the mandatory three seamers 8212; Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth and VRV Singh 8212; and Anil Kumble? Or will they take that big gamble and pull out Harbhajan Singh into the equation? The answer will be known tomorrow morning, but early indications are the off-spinner may be confined to drinks duty.

Well, the talk here on match-eve has all been about the cracks on the pitch that have become more prominent with every minute under the scorching sun. There8217;s one, particularly, at a good length spot around the leg-stump on one end, which could draw a few beads of sweat from the two left-handers in the South African line-up: skipper Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince.

Both skippers, though, sought to play down the 8220;cracks8221; with Smith saying it8217;s always been there, and Dravid saying, 8220;On this wicket, as the game goes on, it sometimes can be more difficult to play the seamers as it goes up and down over the fourth and fifth days. The seamers might be a bigger factor than sometimes the spinners.8221;

Anyway, India8217;s challenges are familiar 8212; the openers and the top-order 8212; but Smith gave his own little twist to the script, pointing to the pressure, too. 8220;I8217;ve toured India three times now, and never seen a situation where8217;s there8217;s no expectation from the Indian team,8221; he smiled, adding, 8220;You can8217;t get away from it. It8217;s in your face, the demand for results.8221;

Then, he came up with sly one-liner: 8220;If India are up for it, it can be a really exciting series.8221;