Monday, December 25, 2006

BOXING DAY TEST

The Boxing Day has nothing to do with boxing. It is about getting gifts or boxes with gifts in them. In terms of boxing, the Indians have to land the knockout punch at Kingsmead in Durban to shut the Proteas out of the series.

The tourists have to be alert in warding off the threat from the home team. The South Africans are not in the same league as Australia when it comes to resilience, but this test can separate the winners from the pretenders. A win for India settles the series, while a win for the home team could make the third test interesting.

Ganguly and Laxman batted with a lot of purpose in the first test; they have to perform well in the second test. Sachin and Dravid have to post big scores to take the match beyond the reach of South Africa. Sehwag and Jaffer have to provide a good start while Dhoni has a lot to prove.

In the bowling department, Sreesanth, Zaheer and Kumble bowled superbly in the win in the first test. Looks like Munaf is going to be included at the expense of V.R.V.Singh. But Munaf does not have the pace to worry the batsmen.

A win would be a lovely gift.

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