Indian hopes on slow burn in Durban

By John Cheeran
An interesting battle is going on at the middle in Durban.
India could take heart from the fact that they have succeeded in putting South Africans on the back foot on the first day of the second Test.
After winning the toss, South African skipper Graeme Smith has adopted a defensive approach by opting to bat first. This is, hardly, their celebrated 'brave cricket'.
It only goes to show that even brave men must go hiding when things go out of hand.
Indian fast bowlers Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan struck early again. It is Ashwell Prince who has remained defiant on the crease, the very same prince who delayed the Indian win at the Wanderers.
South African innings was bolstered by significant contributions coming from Prince, Lance Gibbs and Mark Boucher. These three cracked half-centuries but others failed abjectly.
And it will not be easy when the Indian batsmen put on their pads tomorrow.
Captain Rahul Dravid would do well to remember that good teams win Test matches by the strength of their first innings batting. If you take correct steps in the first innings, it is then difficult to go wrong.
And for that to happen, the Indian first innings should take a different path from South Africa's. Instead of waiting for someone else to play the big innings and shore up the side, each one should come up with scores that can be described as decent.
Contributions in the range of 30-40 runs should be the minimum the lean-patchers such as Wasim Jaffer should offer to the collective kitty.
For Jaffer, this is turning out to be a make-or-break series.
Even the policy of perseverance has its end of tether, and the case of Irfan Pathan should be a pointer for Jaffer.