India go into the two-match cricket Test series against an inexperienced South Africa in Kanpur on Saturday with their captain Sourav Ganguly going through troubled times for breaching ICC rules and a famed batting line-up that has collectively lost the hunger for runs.
Ganguly has been permitted to play the first Test pending a verdict on his appeal against a two-Test ban for slow over rates in a one-dayer against Pakistan but his avaibility for the next match still remains in balance the with Appeals Commissioner expected to give his ruling sometime next week.
Although the Indian team management has put up a bold face saying the incidents involving the captain would not serve as a distraction, it is bound to weigh heavily on the minds of the players when the first Test gets underway on what is seen as a sporting track at the Green Park stadium.
For the moment at least, Ganguly will be in charge of the team that is desperately seeking to regain its top form after a string of defeats in both the Tests and one-dayers in recent times.
Having allowed Australia to conquer the 'The Final Frontier' and clinch their first series win on Indian soil in 35 years last month, the Indians do not have too many happy memories as they go into the new series, but coach John Wright is confident that his wards would be able to turn the tide sooner than later.
It is the perfect opportunity for the struggling top order batsmen to hit top form against a new-look South African team which has as many as seven players with little or no experience of playing at the highest level.
But despite the opposition having an inexperienced bunch of players in their ranks, coach Wright has warned his players not to their opponents lightly who are known to be great fighters.
"The series is just like any other series. We want to win, if we play well, we can do it. We have a lot of respect for the opposition. They play tough cricket and we can't underestimate them," Wright said.
The Indians have made it clear that they will not make any changes to the batting order, which means that Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir, who failed in both the innings of the Mumbai Test against Australia, will get another chance to prove his worth.
But with captain Ganguly returning to the team after an injury lay off which saw him miss the last two Tests, the in-form Mohammad Kaif will have to make way to accomododate the skipper.
The Indians may be tempted to go into the match with three specialist spinners -- Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik -- but may settle for the two spinner-two seamer formula as the Green Park track and the heavy early-winter atmosphere in northern parts of the country is bound to give some assistance to the fast bowlers.
"We are definitely going into the match with two spinners. Whether we will have an extra spinner will be decided later. The 3-1 combination (3 spinners and a pacer) worked well for us against Australia in Mumbai," Wright said.
"But the conditions were different there. Here because of the moisture factor, we may have to take two seamers," he added.
The home team's pace bowling department has been bolstered by the return of the left-handed Irfan Pathan who missed the last two Tests against Australia because of an injury.
Batting has been India's strength but the indifferent form of the top order willowers has gradually become a matter of concern though Wright keeps talking about the class of these players and their ability to deliver the goods.
"The batsmen have not performed upto their potential. The guys are class players, but they have not clicked for some time. As a coach, I back them and I am quite sure they will click sooner than later", Wright said.
The South Africans, on the other hand, are going through a transition period following a rather prolonged sequence of defeats in the Test arena in recent times.
Their recent one-day records have been far more disappointing having lost 1-5 to New Zealand and 0-5 to Sri Lanka in the last two tournaments.
Captain Graeme Smith, who will be the main batting stay for his young side, said the South Africans have come here with a new set of players who are keen to do well on this tour.
"Lot of things have changed now. We have a new coach. We have come with some fresh blood and also fresh ideas. It is a transition period for us and the team will need some time to settle down," Smith said.
Barring Smith, all rounder Jacques Kallis, former captain Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are the three most experienced players in the line up and a lot will depend on them if they hoped to prevent the Indians from running away with the honours.
Boeta Dippenaar, Andrew Hall and Jacques Rudolph have also played at the highest level but most of the other names such as Zander de bruyn, Thami Tsolekile and Alfonso Thomas may mean nothing to Indian fans.
Although the curator Shiv Kumar prefers to call the Kanpur track a "sporting wicket" he is not ready to predict how the relayed pitch will behave, obviously wiser after the experience in Nagpur and Mumbai where the wickets played spoilsport during the Australian series.
The pitch, which looks quite dry though it has a very slight tinge of grass, is bound to spin probably from the third or the fourth day which should favour the home team.
Kanpur is hosting an international match after a gap of nearly five years but the sale of tickets have been lukewarm till now and the stadium, which has a capacity of 40,000, may remain more or less empty when the 19th Test match at this venue gets underway tomorrow.
The teams (from):
India : Sourav Ganguly (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthick, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Mohammad Kaif, Murali Kartik.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Jaques Rudoplh, Jaques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Justin Ontong, Hashim Amla, Zander de Bruyn, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Thami Tsolekile, Andrew Hall, Martin van Jaarsveld, Alfonso Thomas, Robin Peterson.
Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Simon Taufel (Australia). Third umpire: A V Jayaprakash (India).
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).
Start of play: 0930 hours.
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