Grappling with a cold bug and struggling to stay afloat in the three-match series, a depleted India face a do-or-die battle when they meet South Africa in the crucial second One-Day International in Belfast on Friday.
With a flu virus reducing the dressing room virtually to a medical ward, India struggled to find 11 fit men in the first one-dayer and the think-tank was forced to field two spinners -- Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla -- while regular stumper and vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a vital cog in the batting order, missed the action.
The Indian camp, however, is hoping that Dhoni will play on Friday and contribute both in front and behind the stumps to help the team keep the series alive.
India did put up a decent 242 for eight in the first one dayer, with Sachin Tendulkar -- out on 99 and Rahul Dravid (74) contributing handsomely, but Jacques Kallis's broad bat thwarted them again.
The South African captain, who took two wickets, held a couple of catches and then returned to the ground to produce a match-winning, unbeaten 91-run knock, took the wind out of India's sail and grab the Man of the Match award.
Kallis's sterling innings found an admirer in his Indian counterpart and Dravid felt the South African made all the difference in the match.
"If you are playing against South Africa, you want to get his wicket. He tends to stay there till the end and he made all the difference in the match," Dravid said.
India were pushed to the back foot even before a single ball was bowled in the match. S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Powar and Dhoni were down with flu, while Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were not feeling well either.
It became such an awkward situation that the team had to field R P Singh, Zaheer, Yuvraj and Powar despite the players not feeling well and then frantically seek cover from wherever they could.
Accordingly, Baroda pacer Rakesh Patel, who was playing league cricket at Liverpool, was called up, as was all-rounder Arjun Yadav, son of former 'offie' Shivlal Yadav, who was playing for Eglinton in the Irish league.
The pace duo of Ishant Sharma (Delhi) and Ranadeb Bose (Bengal), originally selected for the upcoming Test series against England, were also rushed in and with both of them reaching on Wednesday, Dravid was clearly a relieved man.
"With Ishant and Ranadeb landing, we'll hopefully have some cover in the fast bowling department but, then again, they would be off a flight straight away and into a game. It's going to be a tricky one for us," Dravid said.
Despite being up 1-0 in the three-match series, Kallis refuses to be complacent. The seasoned campaigner said he was expecting an Indian backlash.
"It's definitely an advantage to go one-up in the series. But you have two more matches to go and I think it's going to be interesting," he said.
Teams (from):
India: Rahul Dravid (capt), M S Dhoni, Ajit Agarkar, Ranadeb Bose, Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Rakesh Patel, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa, Arjun Yadav, Yuvraj Singh.
South Africa: Jacques Kallis (capt), Mark Boucher, A B de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thandi Tshabalala, Morne van Wyk.
Umpires: Mark Benson and Billy Bowden
Third umpire: Aleem Dar
Match Referee: Alan Hurst.
