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It would be great to start with a win

The team spirit is good, writesAnil Kumble

— Photo: K. Pichumani

GETTING INTO SHAPE: The Indian players have to keep themselves fit for the long season ahead.

What we have ahead of us, starting today, is a long, busy year of Test cricket. The next 12 months are pretty Test match heavy so it’s essential we pick up the momentum from the word go, with the first Test against South Africa.

After all the celebrations post the ODI success in Australia, it’s time to refocus on cricket. And I’m really looking forward to this series. It’s been a good break for some of us to train, work out any niggles we might have had after a long tour Down Under. Everyone’s looking forward to Test cricket again, against a highly competitive team.

South Africa are coming off a good run, home and away. They are one team that have been pretty consistent here in India. So we’re expecting them to throw everything they have at us but we’re equally sure that we have the wherewithal to do really well against them.

Ishant will be missed

What we’re going to miss, though, is someone like young Ishant, who would have had the confidence of a great tour behind him. A long tour of Australia and not much time for recovery means some people are bound to pick up a few strains. In that sense, Ishant has been one of those losses.

On the plus side, R.P. Singh makes a return after doing very well in the couple of domestic games he played, and that will be a great boost. He’s done very well for us of late. In fact, all the young pacemen who have been thrown into a tough Australian situation have.

Talented though they are, they could have been overawed by the occasion, but they weren’t. They just went out there and gave it their best, and that augurs really well for India.

Home advantage

It’s good to start the new season playing in India again with the confidence of having competed very well against Australia in Australia and coming back to home advantage.

The pitch looks pretty good, a typical Chennai surface with a little bit of bounce and spin as the game goes along.

Like I said, the focus is to ensure that we play very well all through the coming year, and it would be great to start on a winning note in Chennai. The only possible worry is the rain, which has been synonymous with Tests in Chennai in the recent past. This time around though, I’m hopeful that we’ll have a good five days of sunshine. As I write this, it’s really hot and humid, but that’s okay — as long as it doesn’t rain!

The team spirit is good and everywhere there are signs of the resilience and strength of purpose that we showed in Australia. I would hope we take that same intent and spirit into this series.

For me, each Test match must be approached the same way —with a will to win. And with each win, we hope to build the foundation of a series win and a consistently-winning team. Another advantage we have now, besides playing at home, is the presence of both Paddy (Upton) and Gary (Kirsten).

We’ve had some good interactions with them, a few workshops where we discussed our short-term goals and long-term plans. They wanted to ensure that we sit down and are well prepared, and that’s the way I’d do it too. — Hawkeye/Chivach Sport

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