Match Facts
December 26-30, DurbanStart time 10:00 (08:00 GMT, 13:30 IST)
Pitch and conditions
This is perhaps the greenest track this Indian team might have ever played on. MS Dhoni reckons that Vadodara's IPCL track in his first year of first-class cricket was greener. It is thick grass with deep roots, but it's not just the greenness. Under the grass there is a crack around the good length area, just outside the off stump for a right-hand batsman batting from the dressing-room end. Moreover, the overhead conditions are a legend of mythical stature here. If the breeze blows from the north-east, from the sea towards land, it means clear weather and a good time for batting. If it blows towards the sea, it brings clouds, and hell for batsmen. The forecast is for overcast conditions, and it drizzled steadily for a half-hour today. You can't really say, as you could in Centurion, that the toss is a crucial thing.
For India, it's another acid test. The batsmen's approach in the second innings of the first Test was successful but by then the pitch had lost its sting. Can they do it when the pitch has some spice in it? So much, yet again, depends on Virender Sehwag if India are to do well in the first innings. He has the skill and the mental tenacity to deal with pace and bounce. Though VVS Laxman didn't sparkle in the first Test, he was at relative ease till his dismissals, but the same can't be said of Suresh Raina. Will the Indians give him one more chance "to surprise himself" or will they draft in Cheteshwar Pujara? Zaheer Khan returns to alleviate their bowling woes and India will hope that Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth have learnt from the mistakes of the first Test.
"We don't consider one Test match more important than the others. By doing that, you can put additional pressure on yourself. We believe in taking care of small things so we respect every Test, and not in taking any extra pressure."- M.S DHONI
"There's a lot of talk about momentum, and it's important, but it's just there until the next game. We are approaching this game as starting fresh again, having the confidence of the previous win."- Corrie van Zyl
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