14 January,2011 08:41 AM IST | | Sai Mohan
A relaxed looking Indian cricket team was seen at the King Shaka International Airport in Durban yesterday while travelling here to the country's capital to play the second of five one-day internationals against South Africa.
The players were sporting the symbolic team jerseys, but surprisingly there weren't a barrage of fans hounding them for autographs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina were deep in conversation with coach Gary Kirsten, while Yusuf Pathan was walking about freely speaking to family members back home. "Very big loss last night, but the boys are hoping to turn things around," the explosive all-rounder said. "For me, personally, if I get an opportunity, it will be important to succeed because of the conditions. If you do well in South Africa, it means a lot more," he added.
Pathan, who was dropped in favour of an extra specialist batsman in the first ODI at Durban, could force his way back into the playing XI during tomorrow's game. However, at the press conference on Wednesday night, Dhoni said that Pathan's inclusion wouldn't have influenced the outcome of the humiliating 135-run defeat: "These are debatable issues. If Yusuf would have played, we would have had an extra spinning option, but the part-timers did a very good job. With his batting too, it's difficult to predict if he would have made a difference, because we were already in big trouble chasing 290."u00a0
Meanwhile, S Sreesanth was seen listening to his music, and walking about by himself in an amenity store. He too was ignored in the first game of the series. Dhoni said he was keen on continuing with a six-specialist batsmen combination. Could India ring about a few changes for the game here at Wanderers?
There's a silver lining - South Africa haven't won a game here since their nine-wicket win against West Indies in February 2008. Since then, the Proteas have lost eight consecutive matches, with the last game against England in November 2009 washed out due to rain.
