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South Africa v India, Pro20, Johannesburg
Overcast skies threaten match
Dileep Premachandran at Johannesburg
December 1, 2006
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'The Pro20 represents the best
chance for India to salvage some pride before packing away the blue
pajamas and bringing out the whites'
© Getty Images
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The weather, which ruined the opening one-day match of the series on
November 19, is threatening to derail India's first-ever Pro20 game on
Friday evening. Late on Thursday evening, there was a heavy thunderstorm,
and though it didn't rain on Friday morning, the skies above were
ominously grey.
Some would have said that they reflected the mood in the India camp after
three heavy defeats that saw South Africa wrap up the one-day series with
a game to play. With Rahul Dravid out until the first Test, and Munaf
Patel struggling with an ankle injury, the Pro20 represents the best
chance for India to salvage some pride before packing away the blue
pajamas and bringing out the whites.
Apart from Dravid in the Cape Town game where he broke his finger, Sachin
Tendulkar in Durban, and Irfan Pathan in the last game at Port Elizabeth,
no batsman has shown signs of having come to grips with the conditions.
And though South Africa are resting several keep players for the Pro20
game, the replacements are no slouches. The team practised on Friday
morning - India were pencilled in for an afternoon session - and Graeme
Smith was determined to ensure that India didn't go into the Test series
with any shred of confidence.
The format probably suits the likes of Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh
Dhoni, and with so much attention having been focussed on the selection of
the Test side over the past few days, India will probably be glad of this
game, with all the attendant Bollywood trappings that the organisers have
promised. But with the thunder rolling in, and the skies getting ever
darker, another disappointing washout was the most likely outcome.
Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
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