Preview: Tribulation awaits the Proteas?

As if beating India in India wasn't hard enough, South Africa have been assigned a three-Test series that couldn't have been planned worse even if one wanted to. From the hot and humid Chennai to the hot and dry Ahmedabad to the hot and barren (in terms of Test results) Kanpur, this series will be a big test for both the teams to play high-quality cricket. At any rate, the series might just bring Chennai some respite from the heat: four of the last five international matches there have brought rain with them.

One of the reasons why the poor scheduling is such a shame is that the last time the two teams met for a Test series there seemed to be a good bit of needle developing between them. It wasn't quite in the India-Australia league, but the Tests in South Africa last year, which the hosts won 2-1 after having fallen behind, suggested a delicious rivalry in the offing: India fighting the pace and bounce in South Africa, and South Africa looking to negotiate the spin in India.

That South Africa won in Bangladesh everything that could have been won doesn't necessarily mean that they are well prepared. A tough first Test aside, they have had selection controversies to deal with, which got worse just before they set out for India. Andre Nel was dropped in favour of Charl Langeveldt to fulfill the quota for players of coloured origin. They would also hope that Bangladesh was a close simulation of the conditions in India, as they don't have a single warm-up game before they play the first Test in Chennai on March 26.

© AFP After conquering Pakistan and Bangladesh, the successful duo of Arthur and Smith prepare for the 'toughest challenge of them all'

What the followers would be waiting impatiently for is how Dale Steyn fares in his biggest test yet since he has come to be recognised as a demon of a swing bowler at a disconcerting pace. In the last three Test series that South Africa have played, he has been the man of the series, taking 54 wickets in seven Tests at average of 13.74 and a strike-rate of 26.2. He has visited the subcontinent before: Sri Lanka in 2006, and Pakistan in 2007-08. In Sri Lanka he was witness to a 624-run partnership before he produced one fiery spell in the second Test, taking five wickets in 13.1 overs, including three in eight balls. The tour to Pakistan was a better experience, where he took seven wickets in the first Test that South Africa won, but was ineffective in the second drawn Test.

What makes Steyn the key element in the South African side is the absence of Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel, and a largely inexperienced attack in Indian conditions. In all, the South African bowlers have played three Tests in India: Makhaya Ntini two and Robin Peterson one. It is no secret that Ntini prefers faster wickets, and that Paul Harris, and not Peterson, is South Africa's first-choice spinner. All this also means Jacques Kallis is still South Africa's Most Valuable Player.

© Getty Images All eyes will be firmly locked on this prodigy who has arrrived like a storm

There's every reason for India to feel confident going into the series: they are coming off having held more than their own against Australia in Australia. Even the side wears a much more settled look, even though Ishant Sharma is certain to not start the series. RP Singh and Sreesanth are still a handful – for the first time perhaps, a better Indian pace attack than South Africa's – and Irfan Pathan provides a stable option with his medium pace and swing.

What India need to decide is whether to play three spinners or two, and if it is two whom to bench. A freak injury to Murali Kartik has made the job a bit convenient: they now have set preference between Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla.

If they do play three spinners, it will be an aggressive move given the expected flat tracks at Ahmedabad and Kanpur, but that again will spell severe imbalance: either Mahendra Dhoni 
becomes the specialist No. 6, or they play one pace bowler less. Virender Sehwag's opening partner stays a mystery man: Wasim Jaffer and Pathan are the two likely contenders.

It is India who has to set the ball rolling, put their feet in every small opening, and try to produce results where there might be none. There was a time before Australia beat India in India in 2004 and the whole fortress feel started to gradually wear away that South Africa were the only team to have won a Test series in India since Pakistan had done that in 1987. This team, though, doesn't look half as strong as Hansie Cronje's side in 1999-2000, which won the two-Test series 2-0. It will be interesting to see what sort of strategy they employ: ensure safety first, make the Indians work hard for results, and then try to catch them unbalanced; or less likely go all out for results and catch India on the hop. Either which way, the team to have won the series will have done bloody hard work; it is just a shame that the series could not be better planned.