SA ready for any kind of pitch - van Zyl

Corrie van Zyl, victorious in his first Test as South Africa's coach, has said that his team will not be intimidated by a probable turning track at Eden Gardens because the visitors are now mentally much stronger than they were on their last visit in 2008.

Two years ago Dale Steyn had broken the back of India's batting with a powerful burst of fast bowling in Ahmedabad to put South Africa one up going into the final Test in Kanpur a week later. India opted for a turning pitch at Green Park, which Steyn called a "bunsen burner", won the Test and levelled the series.

This time, though, Graeme Smith is leading a unit that is not just consumed by the possibility of beating India in India but is confident of doing so. That, van Zyl points out, is the difference between this squad and the previous ones. "Mentally, the South African team is better prepared," van Zyl, who was appointed the interim coach after Mickey Arthur resigned, said.

"It is still going to be a challenge to deal with turning wickets or whatever the wicket is," he said. The South African think-tank has already assumed the Indians will opt for a pitch that play to their strengths. "India have more control over the conditions," Smith had said yesterday after the innings win in Nagpur.

van Zyl echoed his captain's sentiments today. "I won't say it would be a minefield, but I do expect something that will help the Indian team."

But the South African coach said they would not be in a hurry to change their gameplans, especially after they worked so well in Nagpur. Speaking about the aggressive bowling lines adopted by Steyn, Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell, van Zyl said it was a conscious decision. "It would be part of our gameplan going forward. We need to make sure as a bowling unit we start operating together and we don't work as individuals. That makes you a lot more effective."

Still there was an individual effort that stood out and that came from Paul Harris. The left-arm spinner had been targeted going into the series but produced a concerted effort of bowling to strict lines and lengths that clamped the movement of the specialist Indian batsmen, especially in the crucial second innings.

"Just the fact that he bowled so many overs, and his economy rate, shows he was really effective," van Zyl pointed out. Importantly Harris knows exactly what his role is within the bowling unit. He said that the decision to enforce the follow-on became viable only because Harris kept an end tight and delivered marathon spells on the fourth afternoon.

Asked whether the leg-stump line against Sachin Tendulkar was deliberate, considering the batsman's past vulnerability to such a ploy, van Zyl indirectly confirmed it. "The line of the attack is determined by the amount of the turn on offer and the line where it turns from. And we had to assess where it was more difficult to score against."

van Zyl has been part of the South African coaching set-up for the better half of the last decade and worked closely with various coaches, including Arthur. His previous assignment, before moving into the present job, was to deal with the emerging talent at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria. A fast bowler during his playing days, van Zyl said the most striking aspect about Smith's squad was its "professionalism".

"I was telling the team and the team management that I was pleasantly surprised by the level of professionalism," van Zyl said. According to van Zyl the main reason for the superior mental strength the players possess now could be the structure Arthur worked hard to create. "Credit must be given to Mickey and what he put in the place. That does make my introduction a lot easier."

Both Smith and van Zyl have no illusions about that the second Test, which begins on February 14, being just another hurdle that can be easily crossed. "If the first Test was a challenge then the second Test is a bigger challenge," van Zyl said.

Smith said an extra day's break would be welcome given the amount of preparation that went into the Nagpur Test. "The guys need a few days' rest to regain the mental energy more than anything else. This [first Test win] has taken a lot out of the guys," he said. But he is not losing any sleep yet. "There is enough in the group now and we have beaten India enough number of times. I don't think anything will surprise us going into Kolkata."