African Safari

When the Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his colleagues went on-board the airplane that would cross the Arabian Sea and reach the continent of Africa, the Indian contingent of the cricketing fans were into a huge turmoil of emotional outburst. One; for that it brought the nightmares of the previous tours, and secondly with a hope that as this team has weathered the most adverse conditions in the recent past this tour too may become an exceptional success.

Back there in the Republic of South Africa the bunch lead by Grahame Smith was busy preparing to dethrone Indians from the top spot and gather the prestigious crown. They made sure the tallest of the ballers were in team with their prime weapons blazing all over the huge Indian batting line up. The pitch for this epic encounter was set with the greenish top, favourable swing and the lethal bounce. Dale Steyn, alongside Morne Morkel looked fit to the extreme and was in prime form throughout.

The battle at Centurion began with the home team gathering Indian wickets almost at will. The heavy-steady batting collapsed before the pace, swing, bounce combination of the African pace battery. The Lions tamed the Tigers and made them look as awful as a cat. First, Shewag fell into the trap which began the downfall and the rest followed soon. Gambhir, Dravid, Laxman and Raina with exception of Tendulkar & Dhoni made a long walk towards and away from the action within no time. The nightmares of the 1996 tour flashed when Donald-Pollock duo finished the Indian batting in no time. Unlike the previous occasion’s it was the over pitched deliveries and late swing that caught the Indian batter’s gasping.

Kallis, and the big unit he is, made sure that the Indian remain fielding for long hours.

He gathered his initial double hundred and the sign of relief on him and the South African fans was worth watching. De’Villers celebration of Kallis’s feat spoke heavily of the glue between this team. Another landmark was the Sachin’s 50th century in the second innings which prolonged the Indian defeat. The fight and character of Indian batters in the second inning proved evidence to their steep rise at the number one spot.

Came Durban the next venue and the butterflies in the stomachs of the Indian fans grew wilder. The Gambhir injury, the lost toss, a green top and the fresh looking African attack made matter worst against the Indians. Another collapse brought smiles to the African’s, but only briefly as the Indian seamers and Harbhajan bundled out the African’s soon with a handsome lead. Another collapse of Indian batting till Laxman stood stable and alongside the tail gathered good score to provide the Indian bowlers with an opportunity to tame Lion in his own den. As the saying goes “the wonded Tiger is even more dangerous” so was the outcome of the test match with the Indian crowned victorious and their one number position intact.

Newlands, with its beautiful location of Table Mountains on one side and the green belt on other, was set to make this evenly contest more exciting. The flat and clear pitch with warm conditions favoured the touring side and when the ever bumbling Sreesanth bowled his heart out to send the African’s packing the tense look in the eyes of home side fans was evident. Their savour Kallis once again stood strong and fought hard till the last blood even after sustaining an external injury. And when the Indian batters were blazing all over it was Dale Styen show that made sure the match was evenly poised. He showed the world what fast bowling is all about and the combination of line, length and swing at a high pace makes a number one fast bowler. No wonder he is better to any another fast bowler ever at the current stage.

The Indians got better over the African’s in the second innings as well till the Kallis nailed the last coffin when he marched his team towards safety with the lower order. Draw was the only result possible and the Indian batters manage a fluent batting outing on the crumbled fifth day pitch, thus ending this historic tour with a point each.

This battle between the first and second side of the world was the requirement of an hour when the test cricket is fading away its popularity to the glamorised T20’s. Indians would feel better as they managed to save series loss on African ground for the first time. Kallis and Tendulkar batting show in adverse conditions have once again proved the importance of style and technique. All bowlers enjoyed good run with Steyn and Harbhajan being the best for their sides. Although the likes of Shewag-Dravid for India and Smith-Prince for Africa failed miserably the contest was better than the media hyped Ashes show that ran alongside.

Possibly it was the last test match show on African soil for the veteran Indian trio viz; Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid, the scores are levelled until Kallis comes to India to play his final test series here. And we the true Indian fans eagerly wait for that day.