The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Tough task for Chopra, Parthiv

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Thursday, Sep 13, 2007
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Tough task for Chopra, Parthiv

Special Correspondent

South Africa ‘A’ has a formidable batting line-up

NEW DELHI: Not so long ago, India was struggling to find a specialist opening pair for Test matches. Another worry was the lack of a wicketkeeper-batsman who could give the side the right balance.

With Dinesh Karthik evolving as a specialist batsman, who can also keep wickets, and M.S. Dhoni gaining stability and status, the National selectors have reasons to feel relieved. However, this success of Karthik and Dhoni has surely upset the comeback plans of Aakash Chopra and Parthiv Patel.

Fresh beginning

Left with little choice, the duo will have to make a fresh beginning when the new season begins on Wednesday with the four-day Test between India ‘A’ and South Africa ‘A’ at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.

Chopra, out of the Indian Test team since October 2004, scored heavily in the last domestic season and eventually got selected for the current two-match series. The Delhi opener, who will be turning 30 on the first day of the second Test at Dharamshala on September 19, has scored two half centuries in his aggregate of 437 runs from 10 Tests. India may have tried out a number of opening combinations spread over 35 Tests but now things are slowly looking steady with Wasim Jaffer and Karthik doing a reasonably good job in England.

Patel, who scored a century and a half-century in the two innings he played against Zimbabwe Select XI in July, faces a tougher task. In the pace department, Ishant Sharma gets a good chance on his home turf. Ishant, who impressed Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar during the Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu last season, will have to prove that he has indeed overcome his problems with run-up that led him to bowl a very high number of no-balls. Yomahesh, the other young paceman in the squad, will also be trying to make the kind of impression that brought Ishant the India cap.

South Africa ‘A’, which has included off-spinner Werner Coetsee, all-rounder Rory Kleinveldt and left-arm spinner Yusuf Abdullah to make the most of the conditions here, should find the going much easier with their faster bowlers on the Kotla pitch. The lush green outfield should encourage its fielders to hold nothing back.

In the batting department, the South Africans look very formidable. Besides the experience of skipper Boeta Dippenaar, Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince in the middle-order, the team has reasons to hope for some inspired performances from openers Morne vanWyk and Alviro Petersen.

The teams: (from) India ‘A’: Mohammad Kaif (capt.), Aakash Chopra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Manoj Tiwary, S. Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ishant Sharma, Yomahesh, Pankaj Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Arjun Yadav, Ashraf Makda and Amit Mishra.

South Africa ‘A’: Boeta Dippenaar (capt.), Morne van Wyk, Alviro Petersen, Robin Petersen, Hashim Amla, Justin Ontong, Ashwell Prince, Werner Coetsee, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile (wk), Friedel de Wet, Yusuf Abdullah, Rory Kleinveldt and Charl Langeveldt.

Umpires: A.M. Saheba and Suresh Shastri; Third umpire: Anil Chaudhary; Match Referee: K.P. Bhaskar.