Amidst all the worldly issues that surround us today both in India and in South Africa, there are some cricketers who're under immense pressure to perform because they haven't batted or bowled in a match situation for over a week. The South African team had dispersed to all parts of the country to regroup just in time before the second Test. The Indians had to endure the inclement weather, cooped up in their hotel rooms, though they put in as much net practice as they could. Let's hope the staying together of the Indian team helped them in group strategising and motivational meetings. But still, this is no substitute for a practice game.
The Proteas are one-nil up in a three-Test series and should be pretty confident of wrapping it up in Port Elizabeth. They have added the immensely-talented Jaques Rudolph, a left-handed batsman, to the squad. The Indians have run into some problems in their run-up to the Test—not only are they short on match practice, some injuries coupled to the fact that the balance of the squad does not afford them the luxury of a quality all-rounder...
