It’s fair to say the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru is a venue where visiting teams have enjoyed a fair deal of success.
There was that memorable debut hundred for Michael Clarke in Tests, a series-saving century for Inzamam ul Haq in his 100th Test and a splendid 267 for Younis Khan in the same match, and an all-round performance by South African spinner Nicky Boje (who made 85 batting as a night watchman and picked up seven wickets in the match). That last one helped South Africa complete a historic 2-0 series win in 2000, the last time they beat India in India.
Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul during a training session in Bengaluru. PTI
This time it is AB de Villiers – the man who everybody loves unconditionally in India, it seems – who will walk out for his 100th Test when India take on South Africa in the second match of the Gandhi-Mandela series. Bengaluru is De Villier’s home away from home - he has made this stadium his own with his exploits for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
“I don't feel any pressure because it's my 100th Test; I feel pressure because we're 1-0 down. It's a huge honour to play my 100th Test and never in my life I thought I'll be in this kind of position,” de Villiers said ahead of this game. “I feel humbled and privileged to get the opportunity to walk out onto the field in my 100th Test.”
“I have to add that playing in Bangalore is really special for me. I love coming here. I enjoy touring India in general. I love coming here for the IPL," he said.
AB de Villiers is not the only one who is on a familiar ground. Virat Kohli, in his second match in India as captain, is also a ‘local boy’, having played with RCB in all eight editions of IPL. Kohli also has a Test hundred to his name at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which came against New Zealand in the last Test that was played at the venue in 2012.
That was India’s second win in a row at this venue. Led by Sachin Tendulkar’s double hundred, India beat Australia by seven-wickets in 2010. But prior to that, India went seven Tests without a win in Bengaluru, including four losses. India’s overall record at the venue reads six wins, six defeats and eight draws – so home dominance is not assured.
The pitch is once again the focus, but despite South Africa constantly repeating that they will be ready for a turning track, the incessant rains over the last few days means the track won’t be sun-baked and dry when play gets underway on Saturday. Light to moderate rain is expected over all five days of the Test too, and with overcast conditions, Hashim Amla’s pace attack will likely play a much more significant role than in Mohali.
Except, in a cruel twist of fate, they don’t have the services of their two best fast bowlers - Dale Steyn (not fit enough for this match) and Vernon Philander (ruled out of the series with a freak training injury). The return of Morne Morkel lessens the headache for captain Hashim Amla a little bit, but a pace attack that reads Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott is a lot less intimidating for the Indian batsmen. A lot will rest on the young shoulders of Rabada, who has had a dream tour of India so far and looked threatening with the red ball in Mohali too.
ALSO SEE
The Mohali Test did little to provide answers regarding the batting lineup for Kohli. Except Murali Vijay, arguably India’s best Test batsman right now, and Cheteshwar Pujara, no one emerged with any credit. Shikhar Dhawan’s pair means the opener’s position is the most precarious in the current lineup as India simply cannot afford to have a misfiring top-order in Kohli’s five-bowler, six-batsmen strategy.
KL Rahul, the local lad from Karnataka, could well come in because of his familiarity with the conditions or Kohli has the left-field option of bringing in Rohit Sharma (who cracked a sparkling ton in the Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai after being released from Mohali) to beef up the middle order and push Pujara up top.
Kohli also spoke about Gurkeerat Singh featuring soon – “He certainly fits in scheme of things and don't be surprised if you see him playing soon,” was Kohli’s take on the latest addition to the Test squad – but it is very difficult to see India going in with four spinners for this one. Ishant Sharma in for Umesh Yadav should be the only change to the bowling lineup.
With Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers set to take center-stage, a lot will depend on how the weather plays out in Bengaluru as South Africa attempt to come back into the four-match series.
“I don't give a damn about 100 Test matches, 200 Test matches, 500 Test matches. I just want to win the game,” de Villiers told ESPNCricinfo in an interview. He might not give a damn, but fans coming into the stadium over the next five days definitely do, and the atmosphere should make for yet another cracking contest between bat and ball.
No comments:
Post a Comment