Once the home series with New Zealand gets concluded, Indian cricket team will tour South Africa. India will play three tests, five ODIs and a T-20 in a 40-day venture. In many ways, this will be a very important series for team India keeping in mind the upcoming 2011 World Cup to be played in the sub-continent.
What makes this series very special is the fact that both the teams India and South Africa are at the top in the ICC test ranking holding number one and two positions, respectively. The Africa series will test team India’s sustainability in the long run as far as ICC ranking is concerned.
But there are some apprehensions among the Indian cricket fans regarding the schedule of the series and there are some valid reasons which support the fear. The foremost thing the BCCI should have thought of the forthcoming World Cup series. The mega event will be played in the subcontinent so it would have been better if the board would have decided to host a series in India.
If we take a look at the Indian squad for the South Africa series, there are lots of youngsters feature in the team and most importantly they will be up against some quality fast bowling with some of the juicy and bouncy wickets in the world. As the past record indicates, Indian team hasn't had a good experience in South Africa as far as a bilateral series is concerned. So if the history repeats itself, how crucial will the series be for the morale of the younger players who dream to play World Cup tournament. How will the young brigade recover from the setbacks if any takes place?
On the other hand, had the board gone for a series in India it would have given chance to players to get accustomed on the flat turf, typical sub-continental pitch, and the move could have given an edge to team India over other teams. If we remember, when Cricket Australia scheduled series away in India, several Australian players including Ricky Ponting had shown displeasure about the timing of the series as they were seriously thinking about the Ashes series that time and nobody could disagree with their concerns.
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