Sourav Ganguly: India must prepare a good batting surface

It was a controlled bowling performance by the South Africans that saw them through at Indore as the Indian batting lost the plot in the last phase of the game. The series is very interestingly poised as the Indians will now have to do all the catching up and one slip will mean the Proteas win the series.

Chennai is practically home for India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he has played a lot of his cricket there and he will surely be keen to pull it back in this do-or-die game for India.

The South Africans played good cricket in difficult conditions at Indore. It was humid and the conditions demanded superb fitness to bat earlier.

Two partnerships, one at the start and the one between Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis, laid the foundation for South Africa to reach a formidable total. But, for me, the most important contribution was by Farhaan Behardien and Dale Steyn at the end, which ultimately created the difference between the two sides in the final run. The Indian bowlers gave a much-improved performance, but I still feel pace is lacking in that line-up.

The Indian batting was on course until it came to the point of final delivery and it was here that the South African bowling proved its mettle and showed what controlled pace with the ability to reverse can do. Morne Morkel was the pick but the support he got from Kagiso Rabada and Steyn put a stranglehold on the Indians.

I felt AB de Villiers handled his bowlers brilliantly and the way he rotated his pack never allowed the Indian batters to run away. The decision to throw the ball to Imran Tahir at the death paid off once again and it just shows the confidence the captain has in his bowling armoury.

A total of 270 was not too difficult, but on that Indore surface it was challenging and it needed the captain to mix his bowling unit up to get the maximum benefit. AB did the job well.

Chennai will be another batting-friendly wicket, but the bowlers will also have their purchase. It has a lot of bounce and stroke-making could be a lot better. Also the hot conditions could be tough for the South Africans. India must prepare a good batting surface — with dry tracks the South African bowling could become difficult to handle as stroke-making would get tougher.

It is still not over and the Indians have come back from such positions before to win a series and the management must look to prepare a hard surface for the batters. Winning the toss and batting first should be the order of the day as, in a potentially series-deciding match like this, chasing could be really testing.

— Gameplan