India's rusty middle order gives SA a glimmer of hope

India's middle-order batsmen will enter the Nagpur Test having gone 17 days without facing a single ball in competitive context. Their openers will have gone 10 days without feeling bat on ball anywhere outside the nets. Rustiness, potentially, could afflict one or more of their batsmen when they strap on their pads at the VCA Stadium.

Rustiness does not rank very high on the scale of cricketing worries, but India will still be wary of it, given how little cricket they have played thanks to the rain in Bangalore. India are 1-0 up, but are almost starting a new series on Wednesday.

It is less of a worry for India's bowlers, who have have done splendidly in each of the three innings they have had. On the other hand, the batsmen have had a difficult time. They came up against a tough pitch in the first, barely got enough time in the middle in Bangalore, and have been restricted to the nets ever since.

Overall, however, India have a lot going for them. They are 1-0 up, the conditions are in their favour, they have a fully fit squad, and their opponents do not. It will be important, therefore, that they don't let their advantage slip. Their batsmen, in particular, will need to shake off any accumulated rust in a hurry, and guard against looseness.

Virat Kohli perhaps had this thought in mind when he answered a question about Dale Steyn's potential absence. He was careful not to show any emotion, whether delight at the opposition missing their best bowler or regret that his team would be deprived of the challenge of facing him.

"We have played him enough times in the past, we have scored enough runs against him in the past," Kohli said. "It does not make a difference if he is playing or not. We treat every bowler the same way. It is not certain that everyone will do well in a Test match or a cricket game, someone else might step up so you can't take anyone lightly or more seriously than the other.

"We treat everyone equally. It doesn't really matter, it is eventually a cricket ball coming out of anyone's hand, it is not the name that we play, it is a cricket ball that we face and you got to back your ability to tackle whatever is thrown at you."

Among India's specialist batsmen, only M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have faced 100 balls in the series. South Africa would love to dimiss them quickly and get at the middle and lower order early. If India play five bowlers, Wriddhiman Saha will probably bat at No. 6. Saha could grow into a fine wicketkeeper-batsman in Tests one day, but his average at this juncture is 21.71. Ravindra Jadeja, India's No. 7, averages 21.57 with the bat in Test cricket.

Given Kohli's desire to play five bowlers in most conditions, and given the limitations of his allrounders, the numbers show that India have had to make a genuine trade-off, losing a bit of batting solidity to gain bowling bite.

In Kohli's eight Tests as captain - a small sample size, admittedly - India have averaged 34.87 runs per wicket with the bat, which is less than they have under any other captain in this millennium, apart from Sachin Tendulkar. With the ball, though, Kohli's India boast the best average - 31.00 - of them all.

It is not a bad trade-off at all. As Kohli himself has stressed, putting up big totals does not necessarily deliver wins; picking up 20 wickets often does.

On Wednesday morning, there is a fair possibility that India will pick five bowlers once again. More punch with the ball, but potentially a bit of wobble with the bat. On match eve, Kohli was unwilling to divulge the combination he had in mind, but gave enough of a clue when he took off on a tangent while answering a question about R Ashwin.

First, Kohli praised Ashwin's growth as an offspinner over the last six months. Then, the tangent: "As a captain I am delighted Ashwin is in our team along with Amit Mishra, who brings a lot of variation for us, and Ravindra Jadeja, who is very, very consistent. All these three put together, if I was playing against them, I would find it really difficult to score off, I can assure you that. I am sure it is not pleasant facing all three together and I am glad we have all three in our team."

While South Africa will not relish the prospect of facing an attack containing Ashwin, Mishra and Jadeja on what is expected to be a turning track, the selection of all three spinners could give them a sniff of a chance against an Indian batting line-up that possibly lacks depth and is also potentially rusty. It is a bit of a straw for a bowling attack to be clutching at, but South Africa are 1-0 down, quite likely missing their best fast bowler, and in need of any encouragement they can get.