espnstar.com’s Chandraboli Mitra spoke to former Indian players on the upcoming India-South Africa two-Test series.

Even as India look to retain their No. 1 spot in the Tests, former players feel that beating South Africa will be a real challenge.
 
“If you look at the teams’ preparation, South Africa played a tough Test series against England while India had a cake-walk over Bangladesh. So, India will have to play out of their skins. Another important factor is South Africa are a young team and a much fitter lot than their Indian counterparts,” said former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi.
 
Another former skipper, Madan Lal added, “Proteas have a great potential and it will not be easy for India to beat them, but if they manage to do so then they deserve to be the No. 1.”
 
Nonetheless, the hosts will definitely start the series as favourites but South Africa have all the required ingredients to dethrone them, especially when India are without the players like Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh.
 
“Experience does count and it makes a difference. But at the same time no one is indispensable and the youngsters should take this as an opportunity to make a mark,” said former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad.
 
“The absence of experienced key players would leave a gap in the team,” added Madan Lal, who also had his run as a national team coach from September 1996 to September 1997.
 
“India will have to put on a big total and give their bowlers a good score to defend. Batting is India’s strength and unless they score big runs it would be difficult for them to win,” both Madal Lal and Gaekwad said.
 
However, they added that the young batsmen in Murali Vijay and S Badrinath would find it difficult to fill in to the big shoes of Dravid and Yuvraj but at the same time it will be a make or break opportunity for them.
 
As Gaekwad pointed out, “If they play well against South Africa, it would establish their careers. But they must keep in mind that they should not look to strive just for individual brilliance but also help the team as required.”
 
Madan Lal, meanwhile, singled out Murali Vijay as the man to look for during the upcoming series, saying, “He is technically very sound. He is the right person to fit into the No. 3 slot.”
 
But they also rued the selection committee for not considering Virat Kohli. “Virat has been performing very well in the one-dayers and is a confident lad, with a lot of international exposure. He should have been there,” Madan Lal and Gaekwad pointed out.
 
However, these former players expressed their concern over the bowling attack.
 
“The bowling attack is not at all inspiring. To win a Test match, a team needs to take 20 wickets and the Indian bowlers will have to work a lot more to achieve that,” said Bishan Bedi.
 
Madan Lal and Gaekwad added that except for Zaheer Khan the team cannot count on anyone.
 
And while they all praised the new addition in the India squad - Abhimanyu Mithun, they said that he would have a tough task at hand translating his domestic success at the international stage.