Zeenews BureauKanpur, April,11: Biggest blow for India came even before the first ball was bowled as Anil Kumble, Team India’s main weapon was ruled out from the playing eleven after he failed to clear the fitness test an hour before the toss at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Kumble ruled out means India’s captain in waiting Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead India in the Test for the first time.
Meanwhile the African camp was upbeat about their chances of winning their second consecutive Test series in India, as skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch which is considered to be a batting paradise on the first two days.
Kumble injury means young Piyush Chawla will get his first game but India would go in with two seamers and two spinners in the decider.
Last time India faced a 1-0 deficit going into the final Test of a home series was against the same opponents in 1999-2000, and it incidentally resulted in India's last innings defeat ,when they lost by an innings and 71 runs in Bangalore. Interestingly India had played three spinners then on a spinning track, with Anil Kumble bowling the second over, and then 67.4 more for his six wickets.
Pitch Report This 22 yard strip of land is a dry track with a lot of cracks zig-zagging throughout. These cracks are already loose and are moving at the edges. It's just a matter of time when you would see the ball turning from these areas.
India hasn't lost at this venue for the last 25 years and that is something which would do a world of good to the depleted confidence and psychology of the Indians. This has been a happy hunting ground for the Indians since 1985, they haven't lost a single game in the last 5 they have played. They have won 2 and drawn 3.
After suffering a horrendous defeat at Ahmedabad, the Indians would be looking forward to play out of their skins in order to overshadow the shameful loss and perhaps, erase the haunting memories from the minds of the supporters and critics as well. On the other hand, South Africa will be standing with their heads held high with confidence and passion. Not everyday would you see a batting line-up like India's bottling up for just 76 and winning a Test in 3 days on the sub-continent soil.
Lot of talks about the pitch and the playing conditions, it would be very interesting to see how both the sides perform in this battle. India would be keen to win this game and level the series but that would require a lot of great efforts. Can India do it? That is something you will get to know as the time passes by. Stay connected for more news about this match...
India (Playing XI): Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma
South Africa (Playing XI): Graeme Smith(c), Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher(w), Morne Morkel, Paul Harris, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini
South Africa have won the toss and decided to bat first