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Smith eyeing victory at Eden

Source: PTI
November 27, 2004 17:28 IST
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Playing the mind game ahead of the series deciding Test beginning on Sunday, South African captain Graeme Smith said the pressure would be on hosts India and that they were eyeing an upset win at the Eden Gardens.

"We are not starting with a draw in mind. We are prepared to fight for five days of hard cricket. It will be fantastic if we can pull up a surprise win here," Smith said at a joint media meet with coach Ray Jennings after a light workout at the stadium.

Brimming with confidence after their performance in Kanpur, Smith said "being underdogs, if we can pull up a surprise win, you can imagine the reactions back home".

Jennings said that hosts India and not the visitors would be under pressure due to the favourites tag and the high expectations of the home crowd.

"India will be under pressure since the expectation from them is so high. There will be no intimidation for us, but for the Indians," the coach said.

Smith said the Eden track looked more bouncy than the Green Park wicket and the ball was expected to turn from the third or fourth day.

The visitors, he said, would probably choose to bat first in case of winning the toss keeping in mind "the first innings is very important in the subcontinent".

Appreciating his batsmen's performance in the first Test, Smith also banked hopes on the pace duo Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini to contain the Indian innings.

"The bowlers are feeling better and gained confidence after their performance in the second part of the Indian innings. Hopefully, they will take 20 wickets here," Smith said.

He, however, could not confirm if Jacques Kallis, who did not bowl in Kanpur due to a side strain sustained during the three-day match against the Board President's XI, was fit to turn his arms at Eden.

"We have to check it out with the team physio," he said.

Smith said the first eleven for the Test would be announced on the morning of the match.

Asked if the South Africans had any special strategy to stop Virender Sehwag, Jennings replied in the negative, but quipped "Yes. We have special plan to entertain the one billion people of India."

The coach also defended left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, who was heavily thrashed by Sehwag in Kanpur. "The way Sehwag batted, it was difficult for him to do anything good. It would have even made Shane Warne look ordinary."

Smith refused to comment on the lifting of the two-match ban on Indian captain Sourav Ganguly saying "I'm not going to get involved in that.

"We had expected Sourav to play. We came here to take on a full strength Indian side," he added.

Smith, the aggressive left hander who was adjudged Wisden's cricketer of the year for 2004, said the past records of the South Africans on Indian soil was "of huge importance" to the current side as it gave confidence to the youngsters in the squad before taking on India in the final Test.

South Africa had won three Tests and lost two others in the last two Test series they played in India.

Commenting about his team's performance in the past one year, Smith said the South Africans had sometimes faltered in one-day matches, but put up a decent display in Tests.

He also suggested changes to be brought in the strategies particularly for ODIs, and said "we have a new coach (Jennings) who has put a lot of fresh ideas. We hope to do well in future."

Jennings, when asked about the slow batting by the tourists in Kanpur, said "we had to rethink our game plan. The Indians had created three opportunities to put pressure on us. So we had to play with patience to both put pressure and absorb it".

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