India tour of South Africa 2013 may not live up to the initial hype

India will tour South Africa to play two Tests and three ODIs © PTI

Not long ago, India’s tour of South Africa 2013 was the most anticipated series. The idea of watching Sachin Tendulkar negotiate fiery spells from Dale Steyn gave fans a reason to smile and look forward to what most call ‘the real cricket.’ All of a sudden, the series now looks a pale version of what it could have been. Tendulkar has decided to call time ahead of the tour and the prolonged discussions between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have led to a shorter schedule. Prakash Govindasreenivasan argues why the series will not be as exciting as it could have been.

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After months of being kept in the dark regarding India’s tour of South Africa 2013, the fans finally got to rejoice the fact that it will after all go on as the BCCI confirmed that the teams will play two Tests and three One-Day Internationals (ODI). While it comes as a relief to many, it is very evident that the series may not live up to the initial hoopla it generated long ago.

Even as the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) make elaborate plans for Sachin Tendulkar’s grand send-off in his final two Tests against the West Indies, most people who have watched Tendulkar all through his career are left wondering why he would not want to sign off after facing the world’s best bowling attack for one last time.  It remains a mystery as to why the BCCI fit in a home series against the West Indies to put a question mark over the South Africa tour and leave CSA to beg and plead to arrive at a solution. Whether it was to facilitate Tendulkar’s landmark Test in front of the home crowd or to get back at CSA for appointing their former nemesis Haroon Lorgat as their chief, nobody outside the four walls of the Board will ever get to know.

The focus on the South Africa tour was suddenly taken up by Tendulkar’s final two Tests and the fact that BCCI was not looking far beyond a proposed home series against the West Indies. While the South African board, who just then appointed Lorgat as their chief, were left in the dark, BCCI was busy preparing for the West Indies series.  In fact, it was around this time that BCCI began to hint at the possibility of a truncated tour.
BCCI virtually had nothing to lose while CSA were facing the risk of losing millions with each day lost due to rescheduling. While Lorgat himself was ready to come forward, apologize and mend the relationship he had with the BCCI, the Indian board refused to cave in. Accusations of taking a unilateral decision and breach of code followed and the South African board was pulled into a long-drawn saga of deciding on a schedule.

While the boards continued the long-drawn saga of deciding on the schedule with doubts hovering over the series, players like Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis came out and voiced their concern, if only in a hushed manner. Steyn spoke of a great rivalry between the two sides and wished for the tour to go on. Kallis too was hopeful that the tour would go ahead.

While their wish has been somewhat granted, with CSA doing everything under their power to keep the BCCI ‘happy’, the series may not have the kind of sting that it was expected to have. The bitterness between the two boards has been out in the open for everyone to watch and a trimmed schedule has been the best solution.  When the two teams head out to the field for the two Tests and three ODIs, their game will be of prime importance. The prospect of watching Steyn vs Shikhar Dhawan or Ravichandran Ashwin vs Hashim Amla may put all the painful dealings between the two boards in the background. Yet, somehow at the moment, the series seems like it has already lost its sheen.

(Prakash Govindasreenivasan is a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @PrakashG_89)