DURBAN // Graeme Smith said the pitch would likely behave just the way it has on most occasions the South Africa captain has batted on it – unpredictably.
When asked on Wednesday if this surface was tougher to read accurately than most others, the South Africa captain conceded that it could prove tricky.
“I think so, it’s a surface that can change every day. Statistics do say that Day 2 is maybe a more difficult day to bat than Day 1,” the opening batsman told reporters.
“In that sense it’s pretty similar to the Wanderers [in Johannesburg] in many ways in terms of the stats. But, I think overhead conditions and weather conditions can play a big role here in Kingsmead. It can get hot, it can get flat, and then there are times it can do a bit.”
History will tell both teams that when the rain stays away, there is usually an outright winner here.
The pitch will suggest to them that the quick bowlers will have to work harder than they did in Johannesburg. So much depends on minor things such as the timing of cloud cover and spells of bright sunshine, that you simply cannot plan for them.
And so Smith said players needed to adjust to the pitch according to the conditions at the time.
“It’s just about reading those moments of the game well and making sure you can be effective and get something out of it at those times,” he also said.
Smith, 32, also reflected on South Africa’s struggles at the ground in the recent past. The hosts have lost the last four Tests they have played at the venue, one of those to India, in 2010. Sri Lanka, England and Australia have also visited and made the most of what has a reputation of being South Africa’s friendliest city.
“Generally I think the Wanderers wicket has been a result wicket over the last period of time. Generally it’s been a tougher place to bat, when teams get in a tough pitch to control,” he said.
“Let me just say, upfront, overall we haven’t had the best record in Durban over the last period of time and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to put that right now.
“I think one of the reasons for that is that we haven’t adapted to the surface as well over the last period of time and I think we’ve had good discussions over that now.”
On Christmas eve, it was business as usual for the India team, far from home. There was no sign of any holiday spirit and despite their practice session being an optional one, all but two players pitched up. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, the two fast bowlers who did a lot of the heavy lifting in the first Test, understandably rested up, for more work beckoned.
Anand Vasu is managing editor at Wisden India
sports@thenational.ae
