Post-Tendulkar era begins as India take on SA in first Test

At the Wanderers stadium after losing the threeODI series 20 the visitors will be looking to make their first mark on the tour in what will be a new era in the annals of Indian cricket For this is the first Test match for Team India following the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar The Master Blaster bid farewell after playing his 200th Test versus West Indies in Mumbai in what was an emotional rollercoaster for the entire nation39s cricket fans Since then six ODIs have been played against the Windies and here in South Africa The contrasting results in these two series had taken some focus off the issues emanating from Tendulkar39s retirement Now they need to be addressed The first question to be asked is who will bat at number four The true realisation of Tendulkar39s departure will dawn when a new face comes in to bat at the fall of the second wicket during India39s first innings in this Test It probably will be Virat Kohli attempting to fill in the big boots an unenviable task surely It fits the context of this Test series This is India39s first overseas Test in nearly two years since their tour to Australia in 201112 In 12 Tests at home thereafter India won nine lost two and drew one winning series against New Zealand Australia and West Indies They lost a series to England in between Most importantly this long home season ensured the transition with Tendulkar Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman departing the scene Virender Sehwag Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh were sidelined owing to poor performances giving a completely new look to the Indian team In this interim Kohli has been the premier batsman for this young side for almost two seasons now And ever since he has landed here the Proteas have given him their undivided attention Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel peppered him with pace and bounce in the ODI series wherein he scored 31 runs and a duck in the first two ODIs That India lost when he failed is perhaps a significant reminder of their reliance on Kohli who has 11 hundreds in successful ODI runchases It isn39t his success rate in limitedovers cricket that makes him a firstchoice pick for number four in Tests Instead it is his aggressive mentality and gusty demeanour that was amply displayed when faced with blinding pace and fearsome bounce in the first ODI at the Wanderers Riled by a Morkel delivery that hit him in the ribs Kohli didn39t back away and took on Steyn and company or at least he tried to In the two Tests though he will need to mix this belligerent intent with caution It is true for all other batsmen as well It was their propensity to look for shots at the very beginning of their innings that led to their downfall in the ODIs And South Africa39s pace attack will once again look to exploit this bit with the red Kookaburra ball expected to do more than the white one Not to mention it is the same Wanderers39 deck that caused much pain to this young Indian batting lineup in their opening match on tour quotThere is pace and bounce in this wicket as is the case at this ground alwaysquot said Pethuel Buthelezi a groundsman here who has worked on the Wanderers39 pitch for a long time quotBut this is also a wintossbatfirst wicket If the batsmen get set they will like the bounce and 400 runs should be a good first innings39 scorequot he saidu00a0 MS Dhoni Pic Suresh KK It should be music to the Indian batsmen who are looking for that one innings to restore lost confidence They have been denied competitive cricket since the Centurion ODI with the twoday practice game at Benoni also abandoned due to a wet outfield This only adds to their challenge and the intrigue surrounding the Indian team selection With such halfbaked form of his batsmen and in light of Tendulkar39s exit will skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni pick seven batsmen or take a risk with five bowlers Seven batsmen ought to be the safe bet In either case three pacers should be the norm as is in South African conditions But a fivebowler attack will put focus on R Ashwin The offspinner is now the leading allrounder in Test cricket as per ICC Test rankings and his record doesn39t disprove it He has two Test hundreds albeit both at home against West Indies yet he bats with undeniable assurance in the tailend of the batting order It is highlighted further when the opposition too makes a mental note of such players quotAshwin bats well in the tailend of their young batting lineup and it is important for us to use the new ball well get the toporder and retain our hunger getting into their tailquot said Morne Morkel ahead of the first Test With 104 wickets in 18 Tests he could have been the attack leader as well if not for the presence of Zaheer Khan The return of the 88Test paceveteran adds much bite to the Indian attack Not to mention he has Proteas39 skipper Graeme Smith39s number with six dismissals in nine matches maybe a plus point for the Indian team first up On the other hand the big problem for the world39s number one ranked Test side though will be getting off to a quick start from the perspective of the series and not just an inningsu00a0 Graeme Smith In their last Test series versus Pakistan played in the UAE they gave away an advantage losing the first Test and leaving a lot to be done in the second which they duly won Even so any slipups here will bring alive an old memory from 2006 when India under Rahul Dravid did manage to beat South Africa at the Wanderers thanks to a handy eightwicket haul from S Sreesanth and halfcenturies from Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman A lot has changed since then for India but lightning does strike twice at the same place sometimes Teams South Africa Graeme Smith c AB de Villiers wk Hashim Amla JP Duminy Faf du Plessis Dean Elgar Imran Tahir Jacques Kallis Rory Kleinveldt Morne Morkel Alviro Petersen Robin Peterson Vernon Philander Dale Steyn Thami Tsolekile wk India MS Dhoni c amp wk Shikhar Dhawan Murali Vijay Cheteshwar Pujara Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Ajinkya Rahane Ambati Rayudu Ravindra Jadeja R Ashwin Pragyan Ojha Zaheer Khan Ishant Sharma Umesh Yadav Mohammad Shami Bhuvneshwar Kumar Wriddhiman Saha wk Match starts 1400 ISTu00a0