A brand new day

Disgraced and vilified after a disastrous World Cup, South Africa have plenty to prove when they kick off their TVS Cup campaign with a match against India. Graeme Smith makes his debut as captain, and Eric Simons, the coach, said all the right things about Smith on the eve of the match.

"Smith is one of those few cricketers who have the real feel for the game," said Simons. "He is a tactical person and his leadership abilities have been tested for South Africa A and Western Province."

At 22 years and 71 days, Smith will become the second-youngest captain in one-day international history, behind Waqar Younis, who was all of 21 years and 354 days when he led Pakistan against West Indies in Sharjah in 1993-94.

With the retirement of Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald and Gary Kirsten, and the unavailability of Jacques Kallis, Smith has a largely inexperienced line-up to lead. Among the members in the current squad, only Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs have played more than 70 ODIs.

The South Africans got their first taste of bowling on the flat tracks of Dhaka, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. Playing against an invitation side on Friday, South Africa amassed 294, but then watched their opening bowlers - Mahkaya Ntini and Charl Willoughby - hit all round the park as the home team slammed 71 from nine overs. They were eventually bowled out for 167, but Simons admitted that the South African bowlers were yet to learn the art of bowling on the batsman-friendly pitches.

"In South Africa you can sometimes get away with it, but not here. If you bowl wide here you get punished. I was very pleased with the match, especially from a bowling point of view because we learned a lot. It wasn't nice to see us struggle, but perhaps it was good in the sense that we staged such a convincing comeback."

The South Africans might have to pay a far heavier price if they continue to spray the new ball against India. Despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the Indian line-up of Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh is a formidable one. Simons echoed that view: "India can never be taken lightly, with or without Tendulkar."

The Indian bowling attack was incisive too, albeit against hapless Bangladeshi batsmen who were all at sea even in home conditions. Avishkar Salvi made an impressive debut, but he will be tested far more against the likes of Smith, Gibbs and Boeta Dippenaar.

Sunday's match should also - finally - result in Jacques Rudolph's international debut. So impressive in the unofficial Test against India in 2001-02, Rudolph spent a more than year in the sidelines before finally breaking through to the national team. With so many spots in the middle order up for grabs, this is a golden opportunity for him to cement a place in the line-up.

Probable teams
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10, Zaheer Khan, 11 Avishkar Salvi.

South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Boeta Dippenaar, 4 Neil McKenzie, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Andrew Hall, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Robin Peterson, 10, Alan Dawson, 11 Makhaya Ntini.