When the Indian team lands up in South Africa, they’ll have one passionate fan and friend familiar with the terrain. I’ve been here for almost six months now, playing first-class cricket for Boland, and have a good idea of the conditions our team will face. First, my news. I’ve had a good season, I’ve performed well in both the four-dayers and one-dayers. I’m in good nick, fit and fine. I live in Paarl, which is about 40 minutes from Cape Town (this is where India play their first match, against Holland). It is surrounded by mountains and set in a beautiful valley. But the weather is unpredictable, usually extremely hot and dry. Sometimes so hot it is tough to play or practice, which will make it tough for the Dutch cricketers, who are coming from their winter. The wickets in South Africa are bouncy and fast; I haven’t played in all the World Cup venues but those I’ve played on have been fair to the bowlers and the batsmen. They are hard and firm so the bowlers have to bowl a line short of good length. Just a little room and the batsmen will murder them. There’s a lot of swing in the evenings, which will be good news for Ashish Nehra if we bowl second. But the batsmen have to adjust quickly and should know how to cut and pull. Also, running between the wickets will be very important because I expect the fielding to be great from the other countries. In fact, even in provincial cricket here, all the teams are brilliant in the field. It’s unbelievable. At this point, I’d like to mention Namibia, whom India have to face in Pietermaritzburg on February 23. Though they are inexperienced at this level, and not much is known about them back home, they have players who played league cricket in Australia and England and have picked up solid professional skills. They have very good fielding skills, though their bowling is average and batting poor. The players to watch out for are their captain Deon Kotze (medium-fast bowler) and batsman Kevin Muggeridge. They’ve been coached by ex-England player Douglas Brown. They’ve also benefited under the ICC development programme, in which Bob Woolmer is a technical coach. Remember, they’ll be playing for pride and they know their performance will have a tremendous psychological effect on future matches. So treat them lightly at your own peril. I’m in no position to advise the Indian team but I’ve played in the 1992 and and 1996 world cups so I’ll say this: forget about the New Zealand tour, start focussing on the World Cup. And if you want to drop in for a meal, I can treat you to barbecue and another dish called ‘potjie kos’. It’s a very popular stew-type dish, cooked on open fires in a big black pot. Very delicious. So what are my predictions? The best bowler will be Shane Warne, best batsman Sachin Tendulkar undoubtedly. Best fielder? I think both Yuvraj Singh and Jonty Rhodes. The semi-finalists will be from among India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan.
