Tough series ahead for South Africa: Laxman

VVS Laxman says Graeme Smith's men have a big challenge in the upcoming series against India on their home turf. "Wickets here will suit the spinners," he told Cricinfo. "As we are playing in the summer, South Africa will also have to deal with the hot and humid conditions."

Laxman felt South Africa's problems would be compounded by India's fast-improving performances. He said the creditable performance in the Test series against Australia proved India were getting rid of their 'poor travellers' tag.

Laxman also concurred with Sachin Tendulkar's view that Australia played defensive cricket. "Especially after Sydney, the way we played in Perth one could see they weren't as aggressive as they normally are."

He said Gary Kirsten, who recently took over as India coach, had played an important hand in the Australian series. "Gary spent two weeks with us in Australia which was very useful." He added that the team was looking forward to the three-day camp ahead of the first Test against South Africa where Kirsten would be interacting with all the players.

Laxman believes fitness will be one of the key points players will emphasize on as the cricketing calendar gets more hectic. "Fitness is very important and it's going to be increasingly packed [the season] so only if you are fit you can recover better and play more."

Laxman said the Indian Premier League was a "new challenge for all". Even though he had played only a couple of Twenty20 games on the English circuit, he was looking forward to leading the Hyderabad franchise. "It's an exciting contest and it's a great opportunity to lead a side that is full of amazing players. As a top-order bat you need to play some innovative strokes and it would help to add to the skill sets."

Laxman said the chief advantage of playing the Twenty20 game was adapting to the needs of the situation; "We need to play to the requirement of the game and every player needs to adapt to the needs."

Asked if the huge amounts some of the youngsters have been signed up by various franchises might distract the player, Laxman flatly rejected the notion. "I don't think the youngsters will get distracted. It [money] will only motivate them to work hard because it's become a professional game now. All the money everyone is getting is to play better for the team."

Despite being in excellent form during the Test series in Australia, including a spectacular century in Sydney, he was overlooked for the CB Series, but all Laxman had to say was that he was focusing solely on the Test series against South Africa. "I would like to perform and I still aim to come back into the one-day fold."