Zaheer to Return as India Seek to Level Series

Durban: India will welcome back paceman Zaheer Khan from injury to bolster an attack that was pulverized by South Africa in a one-sided first test when the second test starts in Durban on Sunday.

The number-one ranked test team were crushed by an innings and 25 runs at Centurion in the first of the three-match series. The game was put beyond India in the first two days when they were skittled for 136 before the hosts piled up 620 for four declared.

Conditions are expected to be similar in Durban, where a humid atmosphere and the usual overcast conditions ensure plenty of assistance for bowlers. Zaheer is set to replace Jaidev Unadkat.

"We need 20 test wickets and we've shown in the last three years that we have the ability to do that on any surface," India coach Gary Kirsten said.

"We were well-prepared for the last test but it was a tough pitch to bat on the first day and we let ourselves down a bit, we needed a 100 more runs.

If one of our top six can score a big hundred, then we will get to 400. The guy that's in needs to bat for a decent time because if you don't get around that 400 mark then you put yourself under pressure.

South Africa are ready for an India backlash and will not be complacent, captain Graeme Smith said.

"It was great to start the series well and it would be great to carry it on in Durban. If we can go 2-0 up it would be fantastic, but we need to keep our feet on the ground and work to that point.

It's about getting our skills right here in Durban, finding the right areas with the ball and knowing our game plans with the bat. If we can do that then we can really build on our success in Centurion and it will be tough for India.

Hashim Amla will celebrate his 50th test on his home ground and will be at the forefront of a powerful South Africa top six that has collectively motored to 19 centuries in 10 tests this year.

"It's going to be a big test match for Hashim, but he's the type of guy who takes these things in his stride, which is one of his biggest strengths. He is very composed, very disciplined and very calm, and I expect it to be no different here," Smith said.

Amla has scored five centuries this year and averages 85.71, while Jacques Kallis, who had the nation in raptures last weekend with his maiden test double century, has amassed six centuries and averages 90.07.

The ailing Indian batting line-up could well be beefed up with Cheteshwar Pujara earning his second call-up in place of Suresh Raina, who scored just one and five at Centurion and was caught in the slips in both innings.

Team from

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

India: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Jaidev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha

Pitch and conditions
This is perhaps the greenest track this Indian team might have ever played on. The forecast is for overcast conditions, and it drizzled steadily for a half-hour today. You can't really say, as you could in Centurion, that the toss is a crucial thing.

Stats and trivia

• Rahul Dravid averages just 33 in Tests in South Africa and has just one hundred from 18 innings. Click here for a comprehensive stats analysis on the teams' performances in Durban.
• Since Smith took over as captain, South Africa have won only three of the seven Tests played at Kingsmead, two of them against the lowly-ranked West Indies. The third was in 2006 against India and was ten minutes away from being drawn.

Match facts
December 26-30, 2010
Start time 10:00 local (08:00 GMT) 13:30 IST