'A' tour to South Africa gives fringe men chance to impress

The 16-member squad, led by Cheteshwar Pujara, will also take on the hosts in a couple of unofficial Tests later. (TOI Photo)

MUMBAI: The India 'A' team's tour of South Africa begins in Pretoria on Thursday when they play Australia 'A' in the second game of the triangular series. The 16-member squad, led by Cheteshwar Pujara, will also take on the hosts in a couple of unofficial Tests later. 

India's selectors have picked a strong batting order and a relatively inexperienced bowling attack for the tour, with the aim of giving the young batsmen a feel of the conditions that they will come across when MS Dhoni's men take on Graeme Smith & Co in a full series later this year. The quality of cricket is expected to be top-notch in both formats given the class of the players involved and that is what makes this tour so special. 

From a broader perspective, this tour will give fans and selectors a sense of where Indian cricket is heading. How will the likes of Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay perform in testing conditions against the screaming pace of Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange? 

Will Rohit Sharma finally stake a claim in the Test squad, seven years after making his T20 and ODI debut? Will Suresh Raina stand up against the barrage of short-pitched deliveries that are waiting to greet him and finally get the monkey off his back? There are questions aplenty and the onus is clearly on the young cricketers to answer them.

In the past, the 'A' tours were hardly given any importance. The BCCI sent teams as a formality, often without thinking of the future or even understanding the significance of such outings. The players focused on their individual performances, hoping that they could somehow graduate to the next level. The selectors rarely counted these runs or wickets, unless someone performed spectacularly well. 

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, however, feels the time has come to change the mindset and get into the winning habit. "It is a positive move to send a team to South Africa ahead of the Test series. 

Obviously you want them to win as many games as possible. I know it will be tough but that is what you expect from this team," Ganguly told TOI on Tuesday. "The conditions now will be completely different when India go there in November-December. With the winter on, the conditions will be difficult now. 

The wickets will do a lot more and, I am sure, it will be a good learning curve for the players. It will prepare them well for the series ahead," he added. The Board, too, has done its bit by sending a former Railway's wicketkeeper-batsman Abhay Sharma as the fielding coach, along with head coach Lalchand Rajput. 

"It is the first time that the BCCI has sent a fielding coach on an 'A' tour and that is because we are playing a couple of four-day games. It will also continue the process of raising the fielding standards," said Prof Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's game development officer. The BCCI, however, has chosen not to send a bowling coach and Ganguly is fine with that. 

"There's too much of spoon feeding these days. I think players at this level should to be left to figure out their own way, and that goes for, both, the batsmen and bowlers. In any case, not many bowlers from this attack will make it into the team for the South Africa series," he said. 

Squad : Cheteshwar Pujara (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvez Rasool, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, Stuart Binny, Ishwar Pandey, Jaidev Unadkat, Siddharth Kaul 

'A' tour that matters... 

The performance of all the 16 players in the 'A' team - which will play two 'tests' and a triangular in South Africa - will be followed closely by selectors. TOI lists five batsmen who will be in the spotlight... 

Murali Vijay 
The Tamil Nadu opener received a surprise call-up for the series against Australia at home and made full use of that opportunity by scoring 430 runs in four Tests@61.42, including two hundreds. It was a performance that was instrumental in India's clean sweep of Australia. Admirably, Vijay toned down his usual aggressive style and was willing to dig in and play a big knock. Questions, however, still remain about the 29-year-old's ability to cope with pace and bounce in overseas conditions. Success on this tour will give him immense confidence ahead of the SA tour. 

Cheteshwar Pujara 
There is no doubt that on the evidence of what we have seen so far, Pujara is currently India's best Test batsman. A statutory warning, though, must be issued to those who label him as the 'next Rahul Dravid': He is yet to be tested against quality attacks outside India. Pujara has also shown a penchant for falling to the hook shot repeatedly. The 25-year-old now gets a wonderful opportunity to get used to the rising ball. If this class act comes out with flying colours on this trip, the Indian Test side will breathe easier. 

Rohit Sharma 
If this gifted batsman wants to break into the Test side, this tour could be his golden chance. The 26-year-old is yet to make his Test debut, despite having played 102 ODIs. Throwing his wicket away when in complete control has been this Mumbai batsman's biggest bane and he has rightly been criticised for it. Many, in fact, think he is just a T20 or 'IPL specialist.' Recently, however, he seems to have turned the corner, having found success as an ODI opener. His experience of playing two new balls should help Rohit prepare better for Test cricket. This tour will tell us if he is cut out for the five-day format. 

Suresh Raina 
This man has proved to be an integral part of the Indian T20 and ODI side, but still has a long way to go before he re-establishes himself in Test cricket. Raina's biggest problem is his inability to deal with the short ball. While lack of technique is an issue, Raina appears to also have a mental block against it. If the southpaw can conquer his demons, he can transform into a quality Test batsman. He can take a cue from former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, who overcame a similar problem successfully. 

Ajinkya Rahane 
He has waited on the sidelines for far too long, but like Rohit, has suffered due to lack of opportunities in the Test side. He is no more a contender for the opening slot in the longer format and that has affected his confidence. The Mumbai youngster endured a miserable debut against Australia on a treacherous pitch in Delhi. Before that, he failed against the English seamers in ODIs at home and was dropped. A good show on this tour will help him stay on the radar.