You get one marquee series every year. Last year it was India vs Australia and in spite of the unbecoming verbal battles, it was thrilling; it produced some combative cricket and told you that Test cricket involving evenly matched teams is wonderful to watch. Now, early in 2018, we have another. It might be World No 1 vs No 2 but it this is also about India touring a land where victory has been as rare a sighting as a vegetarian meal in a steakhouse.
India only have two Test wins in South Africa and each of those came when the fast bowling was well stocked and disciplined. Each of those also came in relatively low scoring games. It was an era where the world thought that seam bowling conditions were the way to go to beat India but, as it turned out, those were also where India's batting took care of itself and the bowlers rose many notches. Zaheer Khan was the common factor in many of those wins though South Africa inevitably brings back memories of Sreesanth and the seam going upright at the batsman like it was created in a special effects lab.
For India to be competitive in South Africa this crop of fast bowlers will have to be relentless and disciplined. They cannot have the moody spells they have tended to, spells where they drift into the pads or when they believe bowling fourth or fifth stump lines is fashionable. This set of bowlers can win India a series but they will do so only if don't allow their intensity to flag. And if they believe that, they are expected to win the series, not chip in while Ashwin and Jadeja do it.
Mohammed Shami is India's best fast bowler but he reminds me a great deal of Rohit Sharma from a few years ago. You look him and go "wow". The run-up is good, the seam position is magnificent, he can swing it both ways without seeming to change much, he bowls a mean bouncer and yet he can bowl the most exasperatingly lean spells. Umesh Yadav can lapse into those moods too. You remember a great spell but often it is because it comes infrequently.
But India now have a captain who enjoys playing with pace where Dhoni often lost interest in it because of how long his bowlers kept him in the field. Virat Kohli should demand aggression, come down hard on amiable mid-afternoon spells when the Kookaburra sports a meek, subservient seam. But more than anything else, Kohli should demand that the new ball makes an impact. In India, the new ball can be like the first serve in badminton, just something to start the game with. Abroad, playing the new ball and bowling it are big moments. Your openers and your fast bowlers have a big role to play.
Kohli also has to make a call on who his lead spinner is. At home South Africa have occasionally gone in with four, with Kallis even five, seamers. But last year, Keshav Maharaj took a lot of wickets for them which suggests that the tracks may not be as hostile to finger spinners as they can be when, say, you go to Australia for the first time. If he wants a spinner to close one end, Kohli will go with Jadeja, if he seeks an aggressive wicket taking option, he might be tempted to glance towards Ashwin. If either of those was a proper number six batsman, he might have been spared the decision.
India's batting will have to be tighter too. There is enormous pedigree there, indeed it can lay claim to being the finest batting side in world cricket. And I believe that if the openers ensure that the middle order isn't exposed to the new ball, India can post totals that will please the bowlers. It will mean not coming apart when the ball comes at them in curved lines. This set isn't afraid of pace but the swinging ball sometimes gives the impression of being too spicy.
With the return of AB de Villiers, South Africa look far more formidable and will start favourites but they can occasionally display an unbecoming fragility. England came hard at them two years ago and won the series quite easily. Since then, South Africa have faced undemanding competition at home. But now, everybody is fit and running and even Dale Steyn, the greatest fast bowler of his era is no longer assured of a place with Kagiso Rabada coming along wonderfully and Morne Morkel suddenly reminding himself that he is indeed world class. But like India, they will play four bowlers and if one isn't firing, or limping, that can look inadequate.
It is a series to whet the appetite. If you love Test cricket, if you love what it demands of its players, you won't be disappointed.
