The two bridesmaids go head to head

For me, Chennai has always been the premier Test venue in India. Eden Gardens is bigger and more imposing, but over the past few decades, the failure of the fans to keep a lid on their emotions - firestarting, booing national icons and the whole team on one occasion - has seen it slip down the pecking order. Chepauk has the history [Douglas Jardine last captained England here], and also a crowd steeped in the traditions of the five-day game.

In recent times, there has been an increase in the number of boors but you'll still find more than a few who are au fait with Wisden, the history of the Gopalan Trophy and anecdotes from the days when Richie Benaud and friends came into town. Most importantly, they usually behave like a hometown crowd should, getting behind the side instead of shamefully barracking even the likes of Tendulkar [worrying, that's twice happened in Maharashtra, his home state, at Mumbai and Nagpur].

It was with a little sadness then that I walked into the ground this morning to find very little evidence of a Test series about to start. Everywhere your eyes went, you could only see canary yellow and the roaring red lion that forms the logo of the IPL's Chennai Super Kings. It was almost as if a Test match in a series with the No.2 ranking at stake had become an opening act for the band of the moment.

Inside though, little has changed. Those that take care of the organisation know and love their cricket, and are a far cry from the uppity, know-nothing types with political connections that plague several other Indian venues.

The heat and humidity are also what you've come to expect from this part of the world. After rains yesterday, the stadium was like an open-air sauna by this afternoon, with a ten-minute trek around the outfield enough to soak your shirt and trousers with perspiration. You can only feel for the quick bowlers who'll be running in off 20-year run-ups from tomorrow.

India will play two of them, and RP Singh and Sreesanth will certainly have a role despite Anil Kumble's hunch that spin could be the defining factor as the match progresses. Harbhajan Singh will get another chance to resurrect a Test career that hasn't made any headlines for the right reasons for a fair while now, but it's Kumble that will be the main man.

Back in 2004, he bowled perhaps as well as I've ever seen him do on his way to 7 for 48 on the opening day against Australia. Rain ruined the prospect of a thrilling final day in that game, but Kumble's mastery of his variations on a pitch that has always had enough bounce should make the South Africans doubly wary.

They have a bit of a trump card of their own in Paul Harris though. He may not be a left-arm spinner in the Bishan Bedi but he's deadly accurate and difficult to get away. His height gives deliveries an awkward trajectory, and when you factor in India's mystifying frailty against left-arm spin, you have all the ingredients of a nice little tussle.

South Africa will certainly hope though that the big blows are landed by the pace trio. Makhaya Ntini has seldom shone in the subcontinent, but Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, if he plays ahead of Monde Zondeki, will offer a stern test by pace and bounce.

The much-improved Steyn is the form quick bowler in world cricket. Like Shane Bond, now sadly lost to the Test game, he bowls at furious speed with no doubts whatsoever about the legitimacy of his action. Worse still for batsmen, he swings it. The conditions are unlikely to be swing-friendly, but expect the South African to 'make' the ball diligently so that Steyn and friends can test India with reverse-swing in the event of the new ball not doing enough damage.

Chepauk has traditionally been a batsmen's paradise for the first couple of days, and that isn't going to change now. South Africa batted with aplomb and authority on their way to victory in Pakistan a few months ago - Jacques Kallis was in sensational touch -  but India aren't going to handicap themselves with the bizarre selection tactics that Pakistan employed.

For the likes of Neil McKenzie and AB de Villiers, this will be a severe examination in conditions alien to their natural style, while Hashim Amla will need to be a lot more decisive than he was on debut in Kolkata just over three years ago. Ashwell Prince and Graeme Smith turned around the home series 15 months ago [South Africa won at Durban and Cape Town after Sreesanth set up an Indian win in JOhannesburg], but you can't help but feel that the onus will be on Kallis to replicate his Pakistan form.

South Africa will also hope that two men who know their methods better than most have poor memories. Gary Kirsten was the rock on which many a Protea challenge was built in the 1990s and early 2000s, and his first match as India's coach is also notable for the presence of Paddy Upton, employed as a mental conditioning coach.

Kumble was bullish about India's batting, but Wasim Jaffer and Sourav Ganguly both needs runs after disappointing tours of Australia. With a chastened and hopefully more focussed Yuvraj Singh sitting on the sidelines, the cost of failure could be very steep.

The faithful that throng through the turnstiles tomorrow might also choose to ignore the gladiator-like images of MS Dhoni, a Super King, inside the stadium and focus instead on the real numero uno. Given the BCCI's rotation policy when it comes to Test venues, this could be Sachin Tendulkar's last game at Chepauk, and those that watched him score centuries against Pakistan and Australia [twice] will be hoping that even the frightening Philaborwa Express, as Steyn has been labelled, can be derailed.

South Africa (likely XI): Graeme Smith (capt), Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Paul Harris, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn.

India (likely XI): Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Sreesanth. 

Comments

[napehtrap]

If only the Test matches in Madras would be moved back to coincide with Pongal like they used to. Mid-January is the best time for a match there, the city is at it's coolest and rains have briefly come to a halt.

[lod]

Nice -I really enjoyed reading that, couldn't agree with you more about Chepauk, have very fond memories of that ground (and its spectators).

The last international match I saw there was the India - Pak match in '99 where Sachin made that unforgettable 136. Most of us in the stadium were gutted when we lost, but stood for Wasim's team - one of those larger than cricket moments. Of course the show then moved on to Eden Gardens and they had to finish the match in an empty stadium - a story that epitomises the difference in cricket cultures of the two cities :-) Chepauk seems to nearly always produce results (when it doesn't rain), and the games are usually close so looking fwd to the game!

[Dileep]

England won in 1984-85, with Graeme Fowler and Mike Gatting the batting heroes. Neil Foster took 10 in the match if memory serves me right.

[Tarun Y]

Hi Dileep,

Didnt England beat India in Chennai in 82 or 83? Botham and Willis taking wickets setting up an England series win?

(I thought that was the last time England played India in Chennai)

[Marius Roodt]

I think we're in for a treat. SA will rely on Steyn, and Harris could be the surprise package of the tour. I think it all depends on how SA's batsmen perform, as we have a rather long tail, Morne Morkel will probably be batting as high as No. 8. If the SA batsmen come off, I think we'll have an interesting series, if not, I give it to India 2-0.

[Dhondy]

Excellent. Enjoyed reading that, with just the right emphasis on the meaningless IPL hogging the centre stage ahead of ethereal Test cricket, Bhajji's umpteenth chance at redemption, and King Sachin taking court. Kudos also for exposing Calcutta and Mumbai fans for what they are- opportunists and fair weather hangers-on, who wouldn't think twice before kicking a man they had idolised only months before.

Just a small point though- Chennai has not always been a batsman's paradise- the last time India played there, they were dismissed for 167 by the underrated Vaas and his partner in destruction, Murali, before rain saved India's blushes.

Watch out for Sehwag. India's fortunes in this series will be swayed disproportionately one way or the other, depending on how this man performs. The last time around, before India played SL, he battered the Aussies for an exhilarating 150, that will take some forgetting.