It’s a clash of the two big titans—the two giants—the top two ranked teams in the world. South Africa and India clash at Nagpur in what is being termed the ‘world championship of cricket’. As we move into the series let’s have a look at which players to look out for and who’re the odds favouring.

South Africa

AB De Villiers: AB de Villiers did set the world on fire the last time he was here. He played beautifully all round the wicket and was one of the few batsmen on their debut tour to India to perform so well. He announced himself into world cricket with a very timely and aggressive century.

He’s been in pretty good knick in lead up to the series. He’s been getting pretty decent start but how would he love to convert one of ‘em into a century. He is a mainstay in the South African middle order along with Jacques Kallis and the proteas will be heavily reliant on the duo to provide some stability in the middle order. De Villiers is a brilliant fielder and must be kept an eye on—the man pulls out catches from absolute thin air.

Jacques Kallis: He has now turned 34 and with his medium pace is one of the best all rounder’s the game has ever seen. Kallis will be keen after a certain lay off and would love to grind (that’s the sort of character he is, isn’t he?) his way out of India with some runs and wickets under his belt. Now that he has returned to full fitness his bowling will come in handy for South Africa. With his slightly round arm action he should be a handful especially with the old ball where he would be able to reverse swing the ball in these conditions.

Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn: Steyn had a wonderful tour the last time he was here. Both Morkel and Steyn are more than capable of bowling a 150 kmph per hour and a swinging ball at that pace especially with a relatively inexperienced middle order (barring Sachin) against them. The Indian batsmen certainly do have their work cut out.

Morkel earlier mentioned that he would be looking to bowl a quite a few short ones considering the Indian batsmen problems with the bumpers. Steyn said “I’ve said many times before, a 150 or 145 km Yorker is absolutely no different whether you bowl it here in Nagpur, Chennai, Johannesburg, Perth. It’s the skill behind the delivery that is what counts at the end of the day”. The Indians would have to be wary of the duo see of the new ball and take it from there.

India

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir: The duo are just over 200 runs short of becoming India’s most successful opening combination (in tests) statistically. Often in the recent past its been the opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir that has given the middle order batsmen the platform to step upon. Their contribution is invaluable and they seem to complement each other pretty well with Sehwag being the aggressor. It wouldn’t be too surprising if they duo do have a good series (been the trend in the recent past) India should be in good stead to take the series from there.

Sachin Tendulkar: The more said about him the less it is. Sachin with his record has already made us expect from him. He being the senior man in the middle order with Dravid and laxman doubtful. He needs to shoulder the innings. The old man should do well and if he does so India goes with him.

Zaheer khan: He’s the only pace bowler who seems guaranteed of a place. His new ball bowling and more importantly his reverse swing will surely be one to deal with. If India has to win they need to come up with a very good bowling performance and if that has to happen Zaheer khan has to be at his best.

It’s India VS South Africa. Its world number 1 VS world number 2. It the clash of the champions—the world championship of cricket— promises to be an enthralling series.

There was a huge amount of hoopla leading up to the first test of the Idea Cup between India and hosts Bangladesh. From India’s loss in the recently concluded tri-series final against Sri Lanka, to Virender Sehwag’s comments that Bangladesh is an ‘ordinary’ team who cannot win because their bowlers can’t take 20 wickets.

Bangladesh had every right of believing that they can prove Sehwag wrong. And the first day itself lived up to all the hype when Shakib al Hasan, the Bangladesh skipper won the toss and elected to field first in murky conditions at Chittagong. Gautam Gambhir and the stand-in captain Sehwag were up for the opportunity to get India off to a flying start against an inexperienced Bangladeshi pace attack.

The Delhi duo put on 79 for the first wicket until Shakib al Hasan trapped Sehwag with a short delivery on the leg side only to be caught by Tamim Iqbal for a well-deserved and nearly a run-a-ball half century. The celebrations were wild among the Bangladesh players as the captain led from the front, anchoring an ‘ordinary’ bowling attack. Lanky fast bowler Shahadat Hossain then picked the wickets of Gambhir and Dravid in quick succession.

And when VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh fell cheaply to the superb bowling of the Bangladesh captain, the world’s No.1 Test team was reeling at 160/6 at tea on the first day with Sachin Tendulkar holding fort at 50 and Mishra who had just entered the crease following the wicket of the Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. Game on! Certainly, even after tea, there was no respite for the Indian batsman as the lower order crumbled like a pack of cards. Tendulkar batted exceptionally well to remain unbeaten on 76 as he ran out of partners from time to time.

On the next day, Tendulkar completed his 44th hundred in majestic fashion when he hit Shahadat Hossain, the tormentor-in-chief for two boundaries in a row. Yet Bangladesh had the upper hand in the game when India was bowled out for 243 with Tendulkar unbeaten, in what was perhaps one of his best hundreds away from home. Hossain along with Shakib al Hasan achieved five-wicket hauls in a bowling performance that proved that Bangladesh were no underdogs.

Bangladesh started off superbly with the openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes smashing the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground and in the process, bringing up their 50-run partnership until Zaheer Khan struck with the wicket of Kayes who was out lbw for 23. He then bagged the wicket of Iqbal. It was then the turn of Ishant Sharma to do some major damage when he got the wicket of ICL returnee Shahriar Nafees cheaply as Day 2 ended.

Ishant on the next day continued the form he was in the previous day when he picked Mohd. Ashraful’s wicket. India was back in the game in style! Clearly, Bangladesh was losing its way like India did when Shakib al Hasan, who dazzled with the ball, fell for 17 and incidentally was caught by the Indian captain Virender Sehwag off Zaheer Khan’s bowling. After Raqibul Hasan fell of Sreesanth’s bowling, Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim and up-coming all-rounder Mahmudullah forged a 118 run partnership, bringing the hosts close to the Indian total.

However Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra finished off the Bangladeshi tail. Bangladesh ended their first innings at 242, just a run behind India. A considerable improvement from a precarious position of 98/6 at one stage!

It was after tea on day 3 that India began their second innings. Once again, Gambhir and Sehwag gave India a good start until Sehwag fell for 45. However, this time there was no collapse as India batted merrily till the end of the day’s play with the scoreboard reading 122/1 with Amit Mishra in at No.3 as night-watchman. Day 4 clearly belonged to India as Mishra made a surprise half-century as well as an in-form Gambhir slamming 116 of just 129 balls, in the process scoring his 5th century in as many tests, and breaking Dravid’s record of 4 centuries in 4 Tests in 2002.

Unlike the first innings, Tendulkar didn’t have a great second innings when he was partly responsible in running out a well-set Dravid for 24 as well as he was given out lbw at 16 off Rubel Hossain’s bowling. However, teams around the world have discovered over the years that when one Indian batsman fails, usually the other stands up for him.

That’s exactly what Laxman did for Tendulkar’s failure. Laxman showed how vital he is for India’s batting when he scored 69 and remained not out till Sehwag decided to declare the innings at 413/8, a far better performance the second time around. The positive aspect about this innings was that the lower-order batted well. None of Bangladesh’s bowlers impressed, therefore making people believe that Sehwag was right in his perspective that their bowlers cannot take 20 opposition wickets, which defines the lowest-ranked test team.

Bangladesh had to chase a massive target of 415 to win the Test, which was near to impossible considering India’s potent bowling attack. Yet, the war of words continued between the two teams when Shakib al Hasan believed at the end of the 4th day’s play, that the target was achievable. Despite the fact that Bangladesh were reeling at 67/2 with Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, continued from where they left off, picking early wickets.

On the final day, Tamim Iqbal showed the talent he possesses by smashing a valuable half-century until he played a silly attacking shot of the bowling of the Indian captain, giving an easy catch at first slip to Rahul Dravid, when there were just 8 minutes left before lunch. Thus Bangladesh suffered a major setback in their run-chase. Mohd Ashraful also looked promising and back in form, but Ishant made full use of the life in the pitch by bowling on good length outside the off-stump and as the ball hit Ashraful’s outside edge, Dravid accepted his second catch gleefully.

Shakib’s poor run with the bat continued when he was undone by a Amit Mishra delivery, helping Sehwag take a simple catch again at silly point, resulting in Bangladesh being in deep trouble at 145/6, with India needing just 4 wickets to win the Test. Mahmudullah and Shahadat Hossain lost their wickets due to poor footwork and shot selection, even as Mushfiqur Rahim was fighting hard at the other end.

Rahim, like Tendulkar in the first innings, was the lone warrior for Bangladesh as he didn’t get enough support from the tail enders and yet he scored his maiden test century. This century would be special for the Bangladeshi wicketkeeper as it was not only his 1st in test cricket, but also against the world’s best test side. The Indians had taunted him as ‘school-boy’ and how did he transform into a man!

Eventually, Bangladesh went on to lose by 113 runs with Rahim the last man out. It was a fighting effort which went down in vain. India would be happy with their team effort, yet their performance and their credibility as the world’s ‘numero uno’ team remains a lot to be desired.

The Indian team may have retained their number two ranking in ODIs despite the loss in the tri-series finals, but their insipid showing does not augur well for the World Cup, which is just over a year away. The worrying aspect is that this is not a one-off loss. India have been faltering in the finals way too often in recent years and in most cases, it is the strong batting line-up that has let them down. The Dhaka final had a similar tale to tell. This is one aspect India will need to work on very hard if they want to be seen as strong contenders for the 2011 World Cup.

Cricket may be a team game, but it is important that each and every individual takes up certain responsibility and tries to fulfil it to the hilt, especially in such crunch games. Starting with the openers, Virender Sehwag can play only one way and should continue doing so, but his partner Gautam Gambhir could look at adopting a slightly cautious in case Sehwag is doing well. To be fair to Gambhir, he has been doing an excellent job and was plain unlucky to be dismissed in the finals, but then things could have been different had he decided to take his time and not attempted strokes from the word go.

Virat Kohli had a great series, but unfortunately failed on the D-day. While one can’t be too harsh on him as he is still relatively inexperienced, his shot selection was rather disappointing for a man in prime form. Kohli needs to realize that such purple patches don’t come in your career often and hence you must make the best use of it. The plus point in Kohli’s favour is that he has proved to be a quick learner – the transformation from scoring 30s and 40s to hundreds has been rather swift. He now just needs to carry on the good work.

Like Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni’s shot selection was also questionable. But then that’s the flip side of being aggressive. When it doesn’t work, it ends up looking rather ugly. India would dearly hope the experienced duo can get their act together in future finals. That is because if they fire, there is very little chance of India losing, such will be the brutality of their attack. In short, the Indian batters need to work out a proper mechanism when it comes to competing in finals.

To be brutally honest, the situation is equally bad in the bowling department, if not worse. And a lot of it has to be attributed to the non-stop cricket the Indians have been playing (for some weird reason, mostly against Sri Lanka) as well as the power play restrictions. Zaheer Khan has clearly lost the edge he held over batsmen over six months back and his partner Ashish Nehra’s fitness concerns have comeback to haunt him again. To lose Nehra in a final was a big setback for India and vindicates the selectors’ stance to keep him away from the Test squad. Harbhajan Singh continues to bamboozle us all and this has been haunting India for a dangerously long time. Time for some soul searching, boys.

Okay, India won the series 3-1 following the abandoned encounter at Delhi. However, the batters from both sides dominated the series. If Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli starred for India, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara were in explosive form for the Lankans.

The bowlers from both sides, experienced and inexperienced, were at the receiving end. As such, if there was one factor that decided the fate of the series, it was the inability of the weak Lankan middle-order to capitalize on the great starts provided by the trio mentioned above.

Except for Mahela Jayawardene, they did not have much when it came to experience in the middle-order. Thilina Kandamby showed some spark when India visited Sri Lanka earlier in the year, but on this tour his deficiencies were clearly exposed.

In fact, he will be remembered more for his innumerable fielding lapses during the series more than anything else. Then, there is Chamara Kapugedara, who has been retaining his place in the side for reasons unknown.

He hasn’t registered a decent score in a while and it’s about time the Lankan selectors tell him to shape up for ship out. Among the others, Thilan Samaraweera is still finding his feet as an ODI batsman, while Sanath Jayasuriya has looked anything but comfortable while batting down the order. And so, Jayawardene’s failure proved all the more critical for the visitors.

Despite being on the losing side, it was great to see Dilshan in full flow. 2009 has been his watershed year and he can only get better from here on. The drives on the up, cuts, pulls and of course the Dilscoop have made him as devastating a batsman as Sehwag.

Like Dishan, Tharanga too was in ballistic form. He had lost his way after a sensational start to his career, but this series should set things right for him once again. And about Sangakkara, one can’t be effusive enough in praise of his batsmanship. The effortless ease with which he cleared the boundaries throughout series was in stark contrast to the power play on demonstration by Dilshan, yet equally effective.

However, if the Lankan trio was explosive, India were even more deadly. Sehwag carried his murderous form from the Tests into the ODIs and gave India some enthralling starts. And when Sehwag failed, Tendulkar was there to hold fort. Gambhir only made one major contribution in the series, but it was perhaps the most significant of all. Further, this series could end up being the turning point in rookie Kohli’s career. Prior to the series, he was not able to convert the 50s into bigger scores. But at Kolkata, in the company of Gambhir, he achieved it in an impressive manner, and more importantly under pressure.

In the other departments, it has to be said that India were the slightly better of the two bowling sides, while Lanka took the honours when it came to fielding, despite not being at their best. At the end of the day, however, their overall failure as a batting unit sealed their fate.

Is this the stroke of luck Sri Lanka needed? For the first time in five years, India will be without the two lynchpins of their middle-order – skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, one serving a ban and the other ruled out due to a recurrence of his finger injury. Moreover, Lanka have fond memories of the venue for the fourth and crucial ODI. Thirteen years ago, it was here at Eden Gardens, Kolkata that a rampaging Lankans knocked India out of the World Cup in an embarrassing fashion. So despite being 2-1 down, they still have enough going for them. It’s now up to the visitors to exploit the situation to the hilt.

Let’s not be unfair to India though. Considering that they won at Cuttack in an extremely handsome fashion, the home side will start as favourites even in the absence of Dhoni and Yuvraj. In Virender Sehwag, they have a positive stand-in skipper and a batsman whose credentials do not need to be discussed. It will help that he has been in great form. Additionally, Sachin Tendulkar too has played with a lot of comfort. His knock at Cuttack should given the side further assurance that they can afford a somewhat brittle middle-order. While Sehwag and Tendulkar have been among the runs, the same cannot be said around Gautam Gambhir. And so India would be hoping that the southpaw has a big one reserved for Kolkata.

Coming back to the middle-order, this game will be a great opportunity for the youngsters to stand up and show what stuff they are made of. Suresh Raina will get an opportunity to bat up the order, and it’s about time he starts converting his 30s and 40s into big scores. Ditto with Virat Kohli. In his short stint at the international level, it has been observed that Kohli loses focus after getting a good start and looking well set for a big score. Here’s a chance for him to set the record straight. Among the others, Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja would be expected to chip in if needed.

As has been the case throughout the series, the Indian bowling and fielding, in particular, will be under the scanner. The pacemen continued to struggle in the third ODI and it was only due to the efforts of the spinners that India could make a superb comeback. While it is good news that the Eden Gardens pitch will offer assistance to the slow bowlers in the latter half of the innings, the fast bowlers will have to put up a better show else the efficiency of the spinners will automatically be reduced.

One should also be careful of not putting excessive pressure on Jadeja, the bowler. While it is true that he bowled excellently in the last game, it is also a fact that he’s more of a part-time spinner and won’t be as successful consistently. That responsibility is still to be shouldered by Harbhajan Singh. If Jadeja manages to get through his quota of overs without being overtly expensive and picks up the odd wicket, he will have done his bit. And if India succeeds in wrapping up the series at Kolkata, the team too would have done its job well.