While the fraternity of cricket reporters focussed on the pusillanimity of the Indian batting lineup, which in two innings folded meekly for scores of 100 and 66 against the South African pace attack, the Indian community in Durban was more outspoken, and acerbic.

Abuses, mostly virulent, were hurled at the Indian players as they left the ground and proceeded to the team dressing room. At one point David Johnson, repeatedly abused in vile terms, lost his cool and rushed towards the spectator concerned, before security personnel intervened and other team members cooled the young player down.

The only players to not only escape the storm of censure, but to come away covered in glory, were Indian new ball bowlers Srinath and Prasad, who between them bowled 87 overs in course of the Kingsmead Test, and claimed 15 of the 20 wickets to fall.

And the most fulsome praise comes not from the media, or the Indian community there, but from the opposition.

``Prasad and Srinath are one of the best new ball pairs in the world today,'' said South African captain Hansie Cronje, who in both innings fell to Prasad in identical fashion, being opened up by the young fast bowler's leg cutter and caught behind off the outside edge. ``Give them good conditions, a Test match wicket and they will succeed. What the Indians missed at Durban was a third new ball bowler - there was no one to back Srinath and Prasad up. We knew that it was never going to be easy playing those two.''

South African coach Bob Woolmer was even more vocal in his praise. ``They are developing into a very good strike force,'' said Woolmer. ``In recent times, they have taken the responsibility to strike for their team, we saw this at Ahmedabad, we saw it again at Calcutta and Kanpur and now here in Durban. We knew they would enjoy playing on these conditions, and I thought Prasad in particular was outstanding.''

The most telling comment however came from South Africa's star all-rounder Shaun Pollock, who shared the new ball with Allan Donald at Durban. ``Those two bowled brilliantly at Durban, but they are going to be an even bigger threat at Newlands (Cape Town) and Wanderers (Johannesburg) where the next two Tests are going to be played.''

Asked to explain his assessment, Pollock said, ``They are both brilliant bowlers, but they are at their most dangerous when the ball becomes a little older and scruffed up. They are very good at getting reverse swing, and they didn't find the conditions right for that at Kingsmead, where the outfield is very good and the ball doesn't lose its shine so easily. At Newlands and Wanderers, they are going to find the conditions even more to their liking,'' Pollock explained.