Daijiworld Media Network

Nagpur, Nov 25: Hello and a warm welcome to the third Test between India and South Africa. It has been eleven days since India and South Africa took the field. The first day of the second Test in Bengaluru promised a lot, but rain ruined the proceedings later on - not a single ball was bowled from the second day onwards. Four days were washed out - the most in a Test match in India. AB de Villiers' 100th Test turned out to be a damp squib. India's hopes of going 2-0 ahead, after a splendid first day were left in ruins. The teams have now moved north to Nagpur for the third Test. This is one venue where India haven't tasted success in recent times. South Africa hammered them during the 2010 series and the Test against England in 2012 turned out to be a dull draw. The curator has promised a track that should assist the Indian spinners.

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

Amla: 'We would've liked to have batted first as well. It is going to break up pretty early in the game. Bowling wise we would like to put pressure on the batsmen. Dale Steyn is still not fit, hopefully he will be good to go for the next one. One change as Simon Harmer comes in for Kyle Abbott.'

Kohli: 'Looking at the wicket it looks pretty dry. First day will be the best to bat on and we are going to bat first. I think it is firm but the top surface is pretty dry - that's what you expect in a place like Nagpur. Here in Nagpur it is winter now and still it is pretty hot. Rohit comes in for Aaron and Mishra comes back for Binny.'

South Africa (Playing XI): Stiaan van Zyl, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla(c), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Dane Vilas(w), Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma

Pitch Report: 'It is a track that will worry the batsmen. There are massive cracks on the surface, it's not a pitch that should assist the pacers, but there will be turn and plenty of it. Batting first will be terribly difficult, batting last will be virtually impossible, win the toss and bat first,' reckons Sunil Gavaskar

We haven't had a look at the pitch as yet, but Harsha Bhogle and Anil Kumble reckon that it's a spinners pitch and that means there should be a direct swap between Stuart Binny and Amit Mishra. I also saw Rohit Sharma being congratulated at the end of Indian team huddle. Will Kohli go back to playing just four bowlers with Ishant Sharma as the only pacer? We will get to know more about the pitch and team combinations in a while.

South Africa have a proud record. They haven't lost an overseas series in nine years and that stat is under huge threat. They lost Vernon Philander on the eve of the Bengaluru Test, Dale Steyn was ruled out with a groin strain and he's not expected to play here either. The loss of star players has hit the team hard, but it is at those times, that the fighting abilities of a team come out. The team is under the pump, the spin friendly pitches haven't done them any favour either and the Indian bowlers seem to have a measure of them. Can Amla and AB conjure up something special?
There weren't too many positives for either team in Bengaluru. On a track that held no terrors, the South African batsmen once again fell to the guile of the Indian spinners. On a good batting track, they were dismissed in just over two sessions - something that Hashim Amla and the team management will be concerned about. While the bowlers did their job, Virat Kohli will be chuffed at the possible return to form of Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw hasn't been amongst the runs in recent times, but he looked solid during his unbeaten 45 at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

Preview:

Not in a long while have South Africa been as clearly on the backseat as they have in the Test series in India. There have been only four days of cricket so far this series - three in Mohali and one in Bangalore - but the visitors have always been behind India. Batting against spin and string of injuries haven't worked in their favour which puts them in an unfamiliar position of playing catch-up without much confidence. Hashim Amla, the South African captain, presents a straight-batted defence of the scenario when he talks up their performance in Mohali.

'At Mohali I'd definitely say that in the first three innings, we were definitely in it. If India got bowled out for 200, and we got bowled out for 187, I think it's fair reflection that the game was pretty poised up until the last innings, in which we didn't do too well, obviously.

In the first day in the last Test (in Bangalore), we didn't bat well again,' said Amla on Tuesday (November 24).

It's true that South Africa have largely been let down by the batting department. Barring AB de Villiers, the rest are in dire need of stepping up, and quickly. However, the injury to Dale Steyn is another factor that is hampering them; much of South Africa's success in previous tours of the subcontinent was on the back of some exceptional performances from Steyn.

'He probably won't play this Test. He hasn't fully recovered from his injury,' said Amla. Losing his strike bowler, and Vernon Philander, who is more than handy when the ball starts to reverse, have left South Africa with a largely second choice seam attack. Adding to that, Amla has ruled out playing three frontline spinners at the moment. And they're one-nil down to boot.

With Murphy's Law holding fort in the camp, the visitors might have been seeking respite from the pitch. They would have got that only if the match was being played on one of the practice wickets, which had a tinge of green, rather than the main wicket which has a distinct shade of brown. Disconcerting as it might be, South Africa will want to avoid falling behind early in the third Test at Nagpur, which will begin on Wednesday (November 25).

Given the nature of the pitch, India are considering making some changes as well. Virat Kohli stressed on the need for an all-rounder yet again as he tries to settle in on a team combination. If India go in with three spinners, as they did in Mohali, it could be the same combination that won the first Test. Given Kohli's tendency to prefer five full bowlers, it is likely that Amit Mishra will come in for Stuart Binny.

It's a straightforward battle that has been playing out between the two teams. India are doing everything that they can to raise their stocks through spin. It has been a simple, winning formula from which they will not deviate. They've been working on enhancing all the other factors - namely close-in catching and 'maintaining pressure'.

'We as a team have decided to put in 15-20 minutes everyday on reflex catching and close in fielding rather than boundary fielding and hitting the stumps which we have done since we were small.,' said Kohli. 'This is something we started in Sri Lanka and we saw the results there as well. Those half-chances were the turning points in both the Tests we won. It was a conscious effort by everyone.

'The responsibility was left up to the players, whether they wanted to do 15-20 minutes everyday and everyone put their hands up and said we want to do this for the team,'said he added.

In terms of building pressure, he said: 'We have never been a team that's played mind games. We like to focus on our strengths and believe in our abilities and to sum it all, that's what putting pressure on the opposition is. If you can go out there and express yourself, in a good situation and a bad situation then the pressure is obviously shifted on the other side.... So all those things come together and portray our confidence which you can term as putting pressure on the opposition.'

It is an age-old and highly successful tactic employed by the subcontinent teams. Spin, good catchers surrounding the batsmen and constant pressure. Not many visiting teams have found effective ways of countering it. Amla's team does not possess any out-of-the box solutions either and the best way to counter it will be through an improved batting performance. Form and fortune are not easily reversible once the spin bug bites, but South Africa will simply have to perform out of their skins to keep the series alive.