Extra nets for India after Steyn's show

After Dale Steyn's pace shook them up in the warm-up match at Benoni, India's cricketers had an additional practice session on Friday morning in the indoor nets at the Wanderers. The bowling machine was in use, and short-pitched bowling was the order of the day as the batsmen practised the horizontal-bat shots that can be so productive in these conditions.

Bounce, rather than lateral movement, will be their main concern heading into the one-day series opener on Sunday. As Greg Chappell pointed out during practice, the pitches in South Africa are not necessarily any quicker than those elsewhere. What they do have is bounce, and that's been the undoing of Indian batsmen more times than one can count of late.

The pitch for the Benoni game was characterised by tennis-ball bounce and the top order, with the exception of Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif, struggled to find their bearings. Dravid's brilliant knock suggested that he would once again be key to India's fortunes, while the likes of Suresh Raina and Dinesh Mongia can only hope that it all comes together in the middle of the Bull ring on Sunday.

Chappell wasn't too downcast about the defeat against Rest of South Africa. "Dale Steyn bowled a very good spell," he said. "You have to give credit where it's due." Steyn's tendency to spray the ball around resulted in him missing the Champions Trophy, but the Benoni performance will surely pitchfork him into the selectors' thoughts when they gather to pick a squad after the first one-day game.

India would have taken much more encouragement from their bowling. For 40 of the 50 overs, they did little wrong, with Sreesanth and Munaf Patel impressing the great Allan Donald, but it all went horribly wrong when Jacques Rudolph and Albie Morkel teed off towards the end. Inexperience of the conditions was clearly a factor, but international cricket doesn't forgive such lapses very long.

The players, though, were in relaxed mood as they knocked around, away from the brief showers that prevented them practising outdoors. Dinesh Karthik, who could come in as opener with Virender Sehwag ruled out, tried hitting a couple with Sachin Tendulkar's beefy MRF bat, and Harbhajan Singh tonked a few around even as Raina dealt with the best that Ian Frazer could coax from the bowling machine.

Most South Africans expect their team to win, and pretty convincingly at that, but there's a reluctance to write off an Indian team that can upset anyone as they showed in Pakistan earlier this year. If they need any inspiration, India's players can look to the tour of Australia in 2003-04, when they arrived seemingly on a hiding to nothing, only to leave having almost ruined Steve Waugh's farewell party. Away from the hype and the media circus of home, they may yet dig deep and find out what they're truly made of.