India-South Africa series – A few interesting facts

Well, after the hectic run of matches against Australia and West Indies, cricket fans would like a break. But then, a beautiful article published today in the prestigious newspaper Hindustan carries so much of interesting detail in regard to the upcoming series against South Africa, that I got prompted to share the same with the learned readers.

Every fan of the game knows it jolly well that this series is going to be an acid test for team India. Despite having a very effective batting line up consisting of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni, the end result will mainly be depending upon the performance of our bowling attack. In our bowling attack, only veteran Zaheer Khan has got some experience of playing on the bouncy pitches of South Africa.

Since team India has recorded six consecutive series victories in ODIs, the pressure to repeat the same performance is really intense. But keeping in view the rhythm they are currently into, I will not be surprised in case they achieve a fairly easy win against all the apprehensions. For the first time ever, team India is not lagging behind in any sphere of the game.

Also, team India has developed a habit of winning and I am a firm believer of the old saying that Old habits die hard. But South Africa has been tricky for us. Let us see how.

Before we continue our analysis any further, let us have a look at the vital stats given in the newspaper:

• India has not won any series in South Africa during the last 23 years
• We have played only 5 Test series on the soil of South Africa
• Out of these five, the host have won 4 and one remained drawn
• We have played 15 tests in South Africa – In 7 tests, South Africa have recorded victory and India could win only 2
• Likewise, 25 ODIs have been played in South Africa, and India have lost 19 and won just 4

Also, unfortunately, we do not have Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly this time.

But wait, we have the vibrant Mohammad Shami, the energetic Umesh Yadav, the hard working Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the magical Sir Jadeja. Zaheer Khan and R Ashwin are also equally capable.

Last but not the least, we have Yuvraj Singh, a very seasoned all rounder. In case he is also able to get back his form of the last world cup, we might end up in white washing South Africa, the way we have beaten West Indies and Australia earlier in the year 2013!

I firmly believe that there are pretty good chances that our bowlers will supplement the batsmen well.

Self esteem is the key word after all, and we have got plenty of it. So the carnival begins on 5^th December. Many of the fans can foresee that MS Dhoni is going to rock. After scaling this last fort, team India will be emerging as a true world champion. Best wishes for a thumping victory.