Calcutta/Johannesburg, (The Telegraph): Friday’s India-South Africa one-off Twenty20 clash is an International fixture with an Indian Premier League flavour. Two nations will square off against each other, but more than the teams the general eye will be on the individuals as they gear up for the most lucrative league in world cricket, which begins on Wednesday.
For the Indians, both as a team and otherwise, the match will be an appropriate getaway from the failures of Australia and the Asia Cup and a gateway into a format which offers fame and glory comes as quickly as the boundaries and sixers.
The match is being organised to commemorate 150 years of the settlement of the Indians in South Africa. But its scheduling is a bit strange. The match is happening just after the Asia Cup, of which India was a part, and a few days after the Proteas toured New Zealand for a long tour.
In a cramped international calendar, the game does seem like an oddity given that the Indians would be travelling all the way for just over four hours of slambang action before getting busy with their respective IPL franchises.
Only five days separate the match and the beginning of the fifth edition of the IPL. The long journey means that several players will miss initial practice camps with their respective franchises and that would certainly add to the physical strain.
However, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has ruled out the fatigue factor. “All happy...I don’t think fatigue will be a real factor. We all enjoy playing the IPL...That’s one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is slightly longer so you play quite a few games,” Dhoni said after arriving with the team.
Contrary to the Indians, the Proteas are in good touch as they had an extremely successful campaign against New Zealand. They won the Twenty20, one-day and the Test series against the injury-ravaged Black Caps.
The hosts though have retained only eight players from that tour in the T20 squad. They have shown some compassion, resting their jet-lagged senior Test players (except Jacques Kallis and Lonwabo Tsotsobe). Almost all the seniors have been rested with the exception of all-rounder Kallis, who will be honoured after the match.
Cricket South Africa has announced that this will be an annual affair, following last year’s Twenty20 game between the two sides at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. That match was Makhaya Ntini’s farewell game.
Friday’s match is dedicated to Kallis, and the proceeds will go to his scholarship foundation. “With the World Twenty20 coming up in October, every T20 game is important and you can learn in every game,” captain Johan Botha said.
India, though, are almost at full strength, barring opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, as the duo has been rested.
All the players, who were part of their Asia Cup campaign, are in the squad except for veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who does not play international T20s. He has been replaced by the hard-hitting Robin Uthappa.
Perhaps this could be seen as a last-ditch attempt to end a horrific season with a win. The IPL franchises have already vented their displeasure about the odd scheduling of this game because the India players are missing from the pre-tournament camps. The hosts are winding down their domestic season so this game hardly disrupts their plans.
India are returning to the venue where they played their first-ever Twenty20. Albie Morkel is the only survivor for South Africa from that game.
India lead the head-to-head in Twenty20s by an overwhelming 4-1.
Teams:
India (likely): Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa/ Manoj Tiwary, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin/ Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar.
South Africa (from): Johan Botha (captain), Farhaan Behardien, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk, Dane Vilas.
For the Indians, both as a team and otherwise, the match will be an appropriate getaway from the failures of Australia and the Asia Cup and a gateway into a format which offers fame and glory comes as quickly as the boundaries and sixers.
The match is being organised to commemorate 150 years of the settlement of the Indians in South Africa. But its scheduling is a bit strange. The match is happening just after the Asia Cup, of which India was a part, and a few days after the Proteas toured New Zealand for a long tour.
In a cramped international calendar, the game does seem like an oddity given that the Indians would be travelling all the way for just over four hours of slambang action before getting busy with their respective IPL franchises.
Only five days separate the match and the beginning of the fifth edition of the IPL. The long journey means that several players will miss initial practice camps with their respective franchises and that would certainly add to the physical strain.
However, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has ruled out the fatigue factor. “All happy...I don’t think fatigue will be a real factor. We all enjoy playing the IPL...That’s one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is slightly longer so you play quite a few games,” Dhoni said after arriving with the team.
Contrary to the Indians, the Proteas are in good touch as they had an extremely successful campaign against New Zealand. They won the Twenty20, one-day and the Test series against the injury-ravaged Black Caps.
The hosts though have retained only eight players from that tour in the T20 squad. They have shown some compassion, resting their jet-lagged senior Test players (except Jacques Kallis and Lonwabo Tsotsobe). Almost all the seniors have been rested with the exception of all-rounder Kallis, who will be honoured after the match.
Cricket South Africa has announced that this will be an annual affair, following last year’s Twenty20 game between the two sides at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. That match was Makhaya Ntini’s farewell game.
Friday’s match is dedicated to Kallis, and the proceeds will go to his scholarship foundation. “With the World Twenty20 coming up in October, every T20 game is important and you can learn in every game,” captain Johan Botha said.
India, though, are almost at full strength, barring opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, as the duo has been rested.
All the players, who were part of their Asia Cup campaign, are in the squad except for veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who does not play international T20s. He has been replaced by the hard-hitting Robin Uthappa.
Perhaps this could be seen as a last-ditch attempt to end a horrific season with a win. The IPL franchises have already vented their displeasure about the odd scheduling of this game because the India players are missing from the pre-tournament camps. The hosts are winding down their domestic season so this game hardly disrupts their plans.
India are returning to the venue where they played their first-ever Twenty20. Albie Morkel is the only survivor for South Africa from that game.
India lead the head-to-head in Twenty20s by an overwhelming 4-1.
Teams:
India (likely): Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa/ Manoj Tiwary, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin/ Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar.
South Africa (from): Johan Botha (captain), Farhaan Behardien, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk, Dane Vilas.
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