Short of match practice and struggling to find the right opening combination, India have their task cut out as they go into the second Test against South Africa, starting in Port Elizabeth on Friday, chasing their first win in this country. Captain Sourav Ganguly's decision to take the bull by its horns and come in as an opener has already generated a lot of interest in both camps. With Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman reluctant to open the innings and Connor Williams, who was flown in for the Test series as a specialist opener, still untested after India's both first-class fixtures were washed out, Ganguly decided enough was enough and announced his intention to open the innings along with Shiv Sunder Das. "I am not an escapist. Whatever happens out there, I am willing to face," Ganguly said Thursday.
A regular opener in one-dayers, Ganguly has opened the innings just once in his 47 Tests. But he said the need of the hour was to set an example for the team. "Sometimes the captain has to take extra responsibility and lead by example," Ganguly said. There are also indications that Ajit Agarkar may be included in the eleven while both left-arm seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan would be left out. After the nine-wicket defeat in the first Test, both coach John Wright and Ganguly had admitted that it was probably a mistake to leave out Agarkar, who had an impressive one-day series, and they look all set to rectify it. Veteran speedster Javagal Srinath took a five-wicket haul in Bloemfontein and also completed 200 wickets in Tests and is a certainty for Friday's match.
Ganguly also shrugged away the lack of practice for his team and said the boys were ready for the match. "Even though we didn't have much of practice due to rain, the boys are raring to go and we would try to win this Test," he said. "Hopefully our bowlers would do a good job and we should be able to pile up important runs."
Bureau Report