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Dravid confident

S. Dinakar

India looking to regroup

— Photo: AP

SENIOR PROS: Sourav Ganguly and skipper Rahul Dravid were involved in a long discussion during India's practice session at Potchefstroom.

Potchefstroom: India may be short of form, but skipper Rahul Dravid is not low on confidence.

"We have the capability and the ammunition to do well in the Test series," the Indian captain declared at the Sedgars Park on Wednesday.

He also found a recent precedent: "We did not do well in the one-day series in the West Indies this year, but won the Test series." The first step towards an improved display in the three-Test series would be the four-day game against Rest of South Africa starting here on Thursday.

The surface appears hard and the grass on the pitch should encourage the pacemen.

Laxman to lead

Dravid will not be playing — India will be led by V.V.S. Laxman — but his broken right middle finger is healing well.

"I should be having regular nets in a couple of days. I should be fit for the first Test," he said.

Dravid, Munaf Patel, Anil Kumble and Dinesh Karthik will not figure in the tour-game.

The skipper expressed concern over paceman Munaf's fitness. "Munaf's ankle has not recovered as well as we hoped it would." Munaf travelled to Johannesburg on Wednesday for further tests.

There is an intense competition for Test bowling slots. Zaheer Khan, S. Sreesanth, V.R.V. Singh, who continued to impress at the nets, and Irfan Pathan should comprise the pace attack for this game. Take Zaheer away, and this is a largely inexperienced attack.

Dravid, however, did not feel the need for a bowling consultant on this tour. The younger pacemen, he felt, could be guided by Zaheer and the senior batsmen about the right lengths to bowl here.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will be seeking to stake his claims; Dravid said playing a second spinner in Tests would depend on the conditions.

Competent batsmen

The Indian bowlers will be up against some competent batsmen at Sedgars Park. Captain Jacques Rudolph, Justin Kemp and J.P. Duminy have international experience. Rudolph is a class act and Kemp can be destructive.

The Indian batsmen need to slip into the Test match mode after a welter of ODIs.

The skipper said Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer would bat at the top of the order. The openers will face a lively pace attack here. Nantie Hayward can be quick and Morne Morkel and Garnett Kruger are considered sharp. Paul Adams's left-arm wrist spin is unlikely to bother the Indian batsmen.

Sachin Tendulkar wore an elbow protector on his left arm — it is no more than a case of minor bone bruising — while batting at the nets. Said Dravid: "Tendulkar is fit." In the unlikely event of Tendulkar being rested as a precautionary measure, Gautam Gambhir will step in.

The Indian batsmen have been troubled by the bounce of the pitches here. Dravid said the problem was accentuated by the indifferent form of several key batsmen entering the series.

The skipper hoped Sourav Ganguly — the two were involved in a long conversation during the nets — would translate his experience into match-winning innings. "He is no different from the others," he said.

The teams:

India (from): V.V.S. Laxman (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, M.S. Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, V.R.V. Singh, Zaheer Khan, S. Sreesanth, Gautam Gambhir.

Rest of South Africa XI: J. Rudolph (captain), P. Adams, J.P. Duminy, M. Hayward, J. Kemp, G. Kruger, M. Morkel, A. Petersen, V. Philander, V. Jaarsveld, M. Wyk.

Umpires: C. Hurter & M. Erasmus; Match starts at 2 p.m. (IST).

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