SA set for under-radar encounter

Feelings made clear on non-TV game

[caption id="attachment_107592" align="alignright" width="234"] IN THE BAG: South Africa's Dale Steyn takes a catch during training yesterday on the eve of the two-day match against an Indian Board President's XI - Picture: GALLO IMAGES[/caption]

NO picture, no cricket, Ravu Saini said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he threaded his taxi through the eyes of the needles in Mumbai’s mad morning traffic yesterday.

Saini had been told South Africa would begin a two-day game against a Board President’s XI here today, a match that will not be broadcast on television.

The cabbie and his passengers did not share much language but they got his drift – if a match is out of the sight of the millions who watch cricket solely on television, it is also out of mind.

If the folks on the back seat spoke as much Hindi as Saini spoke English they might have understood him to say: “Not on TV? Pah! Doesn’t exist.”

South Africa are probably happy with that. They have spent a couple of days lurking under the radar in Goa getting their minds off the cricket, but no doubt contemplating what had gone so right in the Twenty20 and one-day series, both of which they won convincingly.

Now, with the test series less than a week away, it is time for the visitors to look up from their navels. This they did yesterday in a morning training session at the venue for today’s match, the grand and gracious Brabourne stadium.

The Saffers kept at it, and somewhere past 1pm Dane Vilas was the odd man in – the only one left batting in the nets.

His training done, Vilas strolled back to a pavilion where deep verandahs creak with dark wood, wicker chairs, bridge tables, and memories.

Or perhaps not. JP Duminy will not play because of his hand injury. For South Africans, that is not a pretty picture. -Telford Vice