India eye clean-sweep against South Africa at Motera
By IANSFriday, February 26, 2010
AHMEDABAD - India will be eyeing a series whitewash against South Africa they meet in the third and last-one day international at the Sardar Patel Stadium here Saturday.
With the series already won, besides the No.2 spot in the ODIs, India have taken the liberty of resting their key batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. While their absence can dampen the crowd enthusiasm a bit, it will give several youngsters a chance to prove their worth.
With Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir missing, Murli Vijay may well be set to make his ODI debut. Rohit Sharma, who picked up a freak injury before the start of first Test in Nagpur, alongwith Tamil Nadu paceman Abhimanyu Mithun are likely to get a look in.
For South Africa, their bowlers have been a huge let down. Dale Steyn lacked the sting he showed in Nagpur and so did Wayne Parnell. A lot will depend on how Steyn can cash in on with the new ball.
Their batsmen too have not been up to the task with the exception of AB de Villiers and stand-in-skipper Jacques Kallis.
The Proteas’ have been disappointed with their dangerous opener Herschelle Gibbs and Jean Paul Duminy, who will be leaving for home because of a finger injury he picked up in Gwalior. He is likely to be replaced by either Loots Bosman or Albie Morkel.
Hashim Amla, who had a stupendous Test series and replaced injured skipper Graeme Smith, was all class during his brief stay in the second ODI and South Africa would want him to stay longer and show the same resolve he showed during his back-to-back centuries in the Nagpur and Kolkata Test.
The Indian bowlers too did not have good run on a batsman friendly pitch but have been pegged on by their slower bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan.
The toss will prove to be crucial with the possibility of dew in the later part of day, with the curators promising that the pitch holds something for the bowlers too.
