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Rotating the strike will be vital

Travelling to remote parts of the world to play matches is something that every cricketer is always apprehensive about. Fearing the worst and not knowing what to expect is probably what makes the wait even worse. I tell you what, how surprised I was when we got to Jamshedpur and saw this green oasis of a cricket ground. Wow, what a place!!

I really have to say that we really enjoyed the ground and the Tata company looked after all of us really well. Thank you, it was worth all the travelling.

The match was obviously a huge disappointment for us after winning the toss, and looking at a score of around 240, we lost our way a bit in the final overs of our innings and 199 was always going to be difficult to defend in the absence of early wickets and credit to the Indian skipper who played a fine knock. Sunil Joshi also bowled well and I believe if we want to turn the one day series around we will have to improve in the way we rotate the strike against the turning ball.

The pitch at Faridabad looks like it's got a bit of grass on it and the South African bowlers certainly are licking their lips at the opportunity to bowl on that pitch. I don't believe it will behave badly though, but will bring our bowlers into it a little more. The only concern I have is the travelling of 90 minutes to the ground with a 9 a.m. start. It is a long way to travel and I hope that we travel better than the Indian team, because it is a huge match for us and we have to turn it around.

I also had the opportunity of my first round of golf under floodlights at the DLF club in Delhi at the launch of Castle Lager into India. Now that's a golf course!! It certainly took me by surprise and would like to play a full 18 holes there in the not to distant future. For those of you who have not tried Africa's favourite lager, try the taste that's stood the test of time. It certainly will be worth it. Good luck Castle Lager.

South Africans show great character under pressure and enjoy challenges. The next three matches will be a big challenge for us , but I can assure the Indian public that we'll be going flat out to turn things around.

(Gameplan)

Hansie Cronje