Morkel hopes to strike early in India

Unlikely to get much help from the dusty Indian tracks, South African pacer Morne Morkel says he would have to strike early to unsettle the formidable batting of the hosts.

Before leaving for the tour yesterday, the 25-year-old told the Afrikaans weekly 'Rapport' that Indian pitches did not have the same bounce as those in South Africa.

"We will have to use the new ball well. India's bowlers are very good in their circumstances and the pitches are regularly fantastic to bat on. If you don't use the new ball well, you're going to wait a long time to trick the batsmen with reverse swing," Morkel said.

Morkel said he was keen to take on the new ball challenge but did not expect the Indian pitches to aid his plans to continue his successful partnership with Dale Steyn.

"We will not be seeing a green pitch again like in the last tour, when we bowled out India for 76 in Ahmedabad. It will be more like Kanpur. When we arrived there, the pitch looked like it was the third day of a test already," he said.

Morkel's first chance to show his mettle will be in Nagpur on Tuesday, when the visitors take on an Indian Board President's XI ahead of the first Test there on Saturday.
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