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| December 25, 2006 | Monday | Zilhaj 03, 1427 |
Patel set for Durban comeback from injury
DURBAN, Dec 24: Pace bowler Munaf Patel is set to win back his place in the India team for the second Test against South Africa in Durban on Tuesday after recovering from an ankle injury.
Patel missed the last three One-day Internationals and the first Test in Johannesburg after injuring his ankle in the second one-dayer in Durban on Nov 23.
He bowled in a match for the first time since hurting his ankle in a drawn two-day practice game against a KwaZulu-Natal Invitation XI in Durban on Saturday, taking two for 25 from eight overs.
India coach Greg Chappell said he had been heartened by Patel's performance.
“He's one of our top bowlers, so if he's fit he'll play,” Chappell said on Sunday. “He seems to have pulled up all right today (Sunday), so it looks promising.”
India will also consider selecting Gautam Gambhir to strengthen their top order.
Gambhir was not in the team who won the first Test by 123 runs in Johannesburg last Monday, India's first Test win in South Africa.
But after top-scoring with 79 in the practice match, Gambhir seems an appropriate replacement for the struggling Wasim Jaffer.
South Africa beat India by 157 runs in the One-day International in Durban on their way to a convincing 4-0 series triumph.
But India turned the tables dramatically with their win in Johannesburg and another victory in Durban would hand South Africa a third home series defeat in as many seasons following losses to England and Australia.
South African captain Graeme Smith acknowledged his team were feeling the heat.
“Our performance at home is something we really pride ourselves on, so not performing in a home test match is always going to create pressure,” Smith told a news conference.
“The public are quite demanding, which shows that they care. They want results.”
Smith said he wanted an improved performance from spearhead Makhaya Ntini, who looked lacklustre in the first Test despite taking six wickets.
“He (Ntini) would probably say that he wasn't at his best at the Wanderers,” Smith said.
“He's also a guy who needs to bowl a lot, and in one-day cricket he doesn't really get overs under his belt.
“But towards the end of our bowling in Johannesburg he was starting to hit his straps.
“He's a professional and he's come back from an ordinary Test match a few times, and there's no doubt in my mind that he will bounce back.”
Smith said South Africa were likely to replace Herschelle Gibbs with A.B. de Villiers at the top of their batting order with Gibbs moving to number six.
South Africa went into the first Test as strong favourites with their pace attack expected to be too strong for India's batsmen.
Instead, it was the Indian new ball pair of man of the match Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan who made the biggest impact on the outcome, making better use of the conditions.
Kingsmead is usually a seam-friendly ground. In 1996-97 India were blown away for 100 and 66, with Allan Donald claiming match figures of nine for 54.
This time, though, there will be some trepidation about leaving too much grass on the pitch after the way Sreesanth and Zaheer bowled at the Wanderers.
South Africa, meanwhile, were likely to wait until Sunday before deciding on the fitness of fast bowler Dale Steyn, who left the field with a thigh strain in the first innings in Johannesburg and did not bowl again in the match.
Teams (from):
SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (captain), A.B. de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Andrew Hall, Jacques Rudolph, Paul Harris. On standby: Morne Morkel.
INDIA: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Saurav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, V.R.V. Singh, Irfan Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh.
Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Asad Rauf (Pakistan).
TV umpire: Ian Howell (South Africa).
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).
—Agencies
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