 Don’t press the panic button
 The knives must be out for Rahul Dravid and his men, not to mention the Indian coach Greg Chappell. The way India began the first ODI at Hyderabad, losing wickets in a heap must have provided enough ammunition to the critics and cynics. “I told you so, I always knew India would come
a cropper against South Africa,” will be the refrain. “How can they replace the experience of Sourav Ganguly with the raw talent of the new kids on the block?” some will say. Others will claim they always knew Rahul Dravid is too nice a guy to be a tough
captain against the better teams in the world, forgetting Sri Lanka were not long ago the No. 2 ODI team in the world.
 The fact of the matter is that India were caught on a fresh, dew-drenched wicket at Hyderabad. And the South African bowling had enough teeth and firepower to dent the Indian batting line-up. The story might have been different if India had won the toss and inserted the opposition, though on the evidence of Wednesday’s opener, Irfan Khan might have got excited and sprayed the ball instead of letting the wicket and the conditions do the work for him.
On the other hand, he might have shown his usual maturity and bowled as well as he is capable of.
 Despite early setbacks, India retieved the situation enough to give themselves a fighting chance, largely through a magnificent innings by Yuvraj Singh, well supported by the brilliant Irfan Pathan, who is growing in stature as an all-rounder with every outing.
Harbhajan played a superb cameo and India managed to set a target of 250, something that seemed impossible after the fall of five wickets for next to nothing. This confirms the belief that this Indian team is a resilient one, capable of weathering storms.
 Another important gain has been Dravid’s unperturbed, imaginative captaincy in the face of adversity. He marshalled his bowling resources cleverly, stayed calm and collected throughout and set attacking fields from start to finish, knowing there was no point in trying to contain the proteans within 250. The worrying factor is that India does not seem to possess enough firepower in the bowling department to trouble the strong South African batting. We saw glimpses of Jacques Kallis - who showed us why he is rated the world’s top batsman - and a restrained version of Justin Kemp whose explosive capabilities we have all seen during his exploits against England and New Zealand not long ago.
All in all, it promises to be an exciting series, provided India can bounce back in match No. 2 on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed.
V Ramnarayan
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