The South Africans are back in the land where they returned to international cricket in 1991-92 after being isolated for more than two decades because of their policy of Apartheid. South Africa's last tour in 2000 saw them becoming the first team to beat India in their home den after a long time. The visitors led by Hansie Cronje, then one of the most respected and revered cricketers in world cricket, beat India 2-0 in the two-Test series. As such, the series should have been a truly memorable one for the Proteas. But what followed in the months ahead took away all the sheen from South Africa's incredible performance.

Hansie Cronje was caught red-handed on tape by the Delhi Police, trying to fix a game with an Indian bookmaker. And after that, cricket went through what is still considered the worst scandal to have hit this great game. Along with Cronje, two leading South African cricketers, Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs were also found guilty. As were Henry Williams and Pieter Strydom who had hardly played any international cricket. Of course, the South Africans were not the only ones to be hit hard by the match-fixing saga. Soon, Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja also found themselves implicated in this dirty game of tanking matches. Azhar and Cronje were until then believed to be two of the nicest guys in the international circuit. So their involvement in such a sacrilegious act is ample proof of what fame and adulation can do to the best of men.

Four years have passed since, and while Indian cricket has moved ahead, South Africa have still not regained the status they had achieved in the pre-2000 period. Hansie Cronje's death a couple of years back brought an end to the life of a cricketer who will be remembered as nothing more than an enigma. But there are still suspicions over his untimely death. Rumours doing the rounds indicate something fishy about the whole incident. With the end of Cronje were buried a lot of hidden facts about match-fixing that only the late South African skipper could have known. This gives people all the more reason to believe his helicopter crash was more than an accident.

Post-Cronjegate, South African cricket has plunged into deep turmoil. And no amount of chopping and changing have enabled them to establish themselves as a force to reckon with of late. To add to their woes, most of the stalwarts, who under Cronje took the Proteas to such great heights, have hanged their boots almost simultaneously. In a sense, South Africa were unfortunate to have the likes of Gary Kirsten, Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes playing in the same era. No one has been able to fill their boots since their retirement.

The trouble brewing in South African cricket can be gauged from the fact that veteran batsman Daryll Cullinan was requested to come out of retirement for the Indian tour. The present team is nowhere close to the one that was rated as No.2 in the world, second only to Australia. A look at the present bunch of players wouldn't generate confidence among too many South African supporters.

Led by Graeme Smith, who had a great start to his international career, but has since not been consistent enough, the Proteas have only two world-class players to boast of - Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis. While the former is still a good bowler and great batsman, Pollock's best years seem past him. As of now, he can be expected to give the team early breakthroughs, but not running through a batting-order, considering that his pace has slowed down over the years. His batting though has improved tremendously in the last few years and can be a big asset to South Africa if he plays to his potential with the willow in hand. In fact, Kallis too is passing through a similar phase. The ever-consistent middle-order batsman has lost a lot of zing with the ball over the last year and a half and is not as potent with the red cherry as in his heyday. The South Africans will hope that Kallis can somehow regain his ability to swing the ball as he can be a great asset to the team on Indian pitches, where the ball reverse-swings very early. But that seems unlikely at least in the Kanpur Test, where he is expected to play purely as a batsman owing to a side-strain.

Jacques Kallis.

Another big handicap for the touring nation would be the absence of Herschelle Gibbs, who pulled out of the tour for fear of being investigated and arrested in connection with his role in the match-fixing scandal. Gibbs has decided never to tour India henceforth, which means that Indian fans will not get to watch one of the most flamboyant batsmen of the new millennium. South Africa dearly needed the services of the experienced opener, more so now when Kirsten is no longer part of the team. Also missing will be Nicky Boje (for the same reason as Gibbs), who played such a pivotal role in South Africa's triumph four years ago.

Two prominent players to be omitted are Mark Boucher and the big-hitting Lance Klusener, for reasons best known to the South African selectors. Boucher, one of the better players of spin in the team, has been a part of the outfit for almost a decade. Having an inexperienced wicketkeeper behind the stumps on Indian wickets is certainly not a good idea. Boucher's exclusion in the first place is baffling enough. Klusener, on the other hand, may be past his prime. But he still is a very dangerous cricketer and considering the dearth of experience in the squad, he should have been persisted with.

The one positive for South Africa is that India have performed well below par this season. But despite that, Smith and co will have their task cut out on the turning tracks of Kanpur and Kolkata. The youngsters in the team won't find it easy to tackle the likes of Harbhajan, Kumble and Karthik. They also do not have happy memories of their performance against Sri Lanka.

There is one big incentive for the team though. No touring team has ever beaten India in India in two or more consecutive Test series since the mid-1970s. Will Smith's men emulate the achievement of Cronje's team in 2000? The odds are heavily stacked against the tourists. But let's not forget that it's just a two-Test series. A few poor sessions for either team might well make all the difference.