South Africa vs India ODI starts today: India ahead by a nose

Having thrashed the Proteas handsomely in the lone T20 match,MS Dhoni and his boys,or men if you prefer(as Sachin Tendulkar no longer qualifies as one!),should be eyeing a win.

This is applicable despite Praveen Kumar pulling up injured and being replaced by India’s error-prone fast bowling ‘mean machine’ in the form of Ishant Sharma.

However,India has always been dependent on its batsmen to win matches and this should apply today too – remember,the World Cup triumph in 1983 by Kapil Dev & co (remember again,Jimmy Amarnath,Balwinder Sandhu,Roger Binny?) was never repeated!

The bowlers’ main task is not to give away too many runs and if they happen to take wickets,so much the better.

However,nothing extraordinary is expected from Indian bowlers – line and length is it.

Quality batsmen India has plenty of and they are all in prime form,with Virat Kolhi and Suresh Raina warming up nicely in the T20 tie and Sachin and MS Dhoni doing well in Tests.

South Africa will have its task cut out today,barring theatrical collapses by India,something that they are prone to do on the first day of a new series.

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