Amla stands between India and No. 1 ranking

The man South Africa will be banking on to save the second Test against India is the teams first cricketer of Indian origin. In the middle of a purple patch,all eyes will be on Hashim Amla,who incidentally made his debut at the Eden Gardens six years ago.

The man South Africa will be banking on to save the second Test against India is the teams first cricketer of Indian origin. In the middle of a purple patch,all eyes will be on Hashim Amla,who incidentally made his debut at the Eden Gardens six years ago.

Batting on 49 when play was called off on Wednesday,Amla will have Ashwell Prince for company when play resumes on the final day of the series. Team India have struggled to dismiss the 26-year-old,as Amla has amassed 416 runs in the series so far. In Nagpur,he scored an unbeaten 253 to set up a memorable innings victory for his team. His knock,comprising solid,calculated strokeplay,came off 473 balls and in 675 minutes something which speaks volumes of his patience and ability to frustrate the opposition.

Another hallmark of his batting is his ability to forge partnerships. He paired up with Jacques Kallis for a 340-run stand in Nagpur and a 209-run partnership with Alviro Petersen here.

Kallis admits South Africas hopes rest on Amla and says that the rest of the team can learn quite a few lessons from the way he has batted in the series. Hes been fantastic on this tour. The best thing about his batting in this series is his ability and knack to stick around and bat on as long as possible,and thats why hes getting those big knocks, Kallis said. There are some lessons for us to learn from him his consistency in getting runs and his power of concentration. He is focusing really hard for those knocks.

Wary of the threat,Gary Kirsten says his bowlers will have to convert the half chances against the in-from Amla. Bowl in the right areas and dont let him off the hook. Thats what our bowlers need to do tomorrow to tackle Amla. We need to keep the pressure on him, Kirsten said.

A veteran of 42 Tests,Amla has been there in such situations for South Africa before. Against England at Lords in 2008,Amla scored a century as South Africa batted out the last two days to salvage a draw.

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Amla stands between India and No. 1 ranking

The man South Africa will be banking on to save the second Test against India is the teams first cricketer of Indian origin. In the middle of a purple patch,all eyes will be on Hashim Amla,who incidentally made his debut at the Eden Gardens six years ago.

The man South Africa will be banking on to save the second Test against India is the teams first cricketer of Indian origin. In the middle of a purple patch,all eyes will be on Hashim Amla,who incidentally made his debut at the Eden Gardens six years ago.