This South Africa-Pakistan series will be an interesting one. Apart from the cricket itself there are multiple player stories to watch for. First and foremost of interest would be the Inzamam and Misbah question. Inzamam has opted out of the first test, and it is not clear he would have been selected were he available. Misbah is at the striker's end. The erstwhile journeyman fresh returned from a largely successful campaign needs to show he can finally take on the longer form of the game. He also needs to show that he can finish things off when the pressure mounts; something that he failed to do twice in the recently concluded Twenty20 World Cup. Watching from the non-striker's end with a keen eye will be the legend of Inzamam. Misbah needs to keep the eye on the ball and not on Inzamam. In age the two men are not that far apart. The lack of emerging new batsmen has brought Misbah this final chance. There is not much room left for future chances. He will either end up the second coming of Mansoor Akhtar or a worthy replacement of Inzamam.
There are other stories. Finally, will Akhtar be put to rest? Will Iftikhar Anjum confirm himself as the mediocre bowler that he has shown himself to be so far? Does Sami still have chances left? Will Sohail Tanveer or someone else make their debut? Will Taufeeq, probably technically the best Pakistani opener, finally stake his claim. With Afridi and Razzaq out who takes on the mantle of the allrounder? How will Yousuf perform with all the termoil of the ICL situation? How will Malik's captaincy work out in tests?
On the South African side Kallis will return a little disgruntled with something to prove. Will it concentrate him more or eviscerate him? How will Pollock respond to his new role? How will Pollock's replacement work out?
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