I'm Not One For Psychological Edge

Despite having taken a morale boosting first inningslead at Kanpur, South African skipper Graeme Smith says India still start asfavourites in the second Test beginning at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

Smith, who became South Africa's youngest skipper whenhe took over the reins of the side as a 22-year-old in 2003, opines it wouldbe "something massive" if his young side manages to pull off a win andclinch the two-Test series.

"We had a solid game. We are proud at the way weplayed in Kanpur. It is disappointing that there was no result. But India are anexperienced side and they start as favourites," Smith told reporters inKolkata.

"It will be a massive thing if we pull off awin," added the young skipper.

Smith said his team hoped to perform better at Eden andforce a result and that the players were mentally prepared to play on a turningtrack.

"India's world class spinners Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh did not get as much turn as they would have liked. But we expectthe Eden pitch to turn a little more. We are expecting the worst. I hope my boyshandle the spinners well," said Smith, who has a 50-plus batting average in27 Tests.

Smith, who seemed to have done his homework well on the likely conditions at theEden Gardens, said that he was aware of the dew factor in the morning hourswhich would aid seamers. The Johannesberg-born player, adjudged Wisden'sCricketer of the Year in 2004, felt his side, being relatively young inage, would be under less pressure.

"Being a young side there will be less pressure onus. But we demand from each other the highest level of performance," hesaid.

When reminded him that the South Africans hadregistered a thumping 329 run win in their previous match at the Eden eightyears ago, Smith said, "We have to get fresh ideas and understand what toexpect at Eden. We need to prepare a game plan which will have depth."Smith, however, urged his teammates not to take things easy after the goodperformance at Kanpur.

"Players tend to relax after such a match.They need to keep up the competitive spirit and the hunger for victory," hesaid.

Describing the prospects of turning out at Eden as 'avery special occasion', Smith said his cricketers were all keyed up to givetheir best and promised to play good cricket.

The South African skipper lavishly praised newlypromoted opener Andrew Hall, who struck a patient 163, and debutant Zander deBruyn, who scored 83 in the first innings at Kanpur.

"Hall was gutsy and and passionate. And the riskof playing him as opener paid off. Scoring 160 plus is a fabulous performance.Bruyn is also a gutsy customer," he said.

Smith also expressed satisfaction with the performance of his seamers, sayingtheir proficiency in extracting reverse swing served the side well. "But atthe same time, I must say that we dropped some catches early in the Indianinnings. In a nutshell, we need to improve on both our positives andnegatives." The South African skipper said the week-long practice sessionin spin-friendly conditions at Pretoria ahead of the tour had benefitted histeam.

On the transitional phase South African cricket was nowpassing through, Smith said "We have lost a few cricketers to age. Playerslike Allan Donald, Jonty Rhodes do not come easily. They have to be groomed. Butif we can beat India in India and then get past England we will again be ratedas good beaters."

Smith also contended that his side would not have anypsychological edge because of the travails of his Indian counterpart SauravGanguly, who faced ICC Appeals Commissioner Tim Castle at a hearing today afterbeing penalised by match referee Clive Lloyd for the Indians' slow over rate inthe platinum jubilee match again Pakistan.

"I'm not one for psychological edge. But matterslike this take a lot of your time. You can't concentrate," he said.

"But we are paying not much importance to it. Whatis more important is the quality of opposition we are up against," he said.

PTI