India might struggle to put 11 players on the park even as they look for revenge
when they take on South Africa in the first one-day international of the
three-match Future Cup series here tomorrow.
After Mahendra Dhoni pulled out of India's opening game due to high fever, players
like Sachin Tendulkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla,
Robin Uthappa, Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar are also a bit
under the weather.
The players, hit hard with the sudden change in climatic conditions, were suffering
from cold and viral fever.
But India, who were outclassed 4-0 in the five-match one-day
series on their tour of South Africa in December last, would be keen to erase
the bitter memories by turning the tables on the rivals.
Their ambitions may be helped by the fact that the South Africans
are without their captain Graeme Smith and all-rounder Shaun Pollock.
But the .
-led side still seem to have enough firepower to give the Indians
a hard time.
It would not be a surprise if Rahul Dravid's men were still
haunted by the nightmare of six months ago. Not only did they struggle to put
runs on the board but they could manage to bat the full 50 overs only in the
final game at Centurion.
The team, however, has a few problems of their own to sort out since several
players have caught cold and viral fever.
Given the fact that the weather here has been dicey, the first two matches
had to be curtailed. Likewise another stop-and-start game on Tuesday could not
be ruled out.
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