With relatively little fanfare, Sourav Ganguly's Indian tourists flew into South Africa on Monday seeking to avoid the pitfalls encountered by two previous Indian sides.

During the 15 years since India last won an away series can be counted 1992/93, when Mohammad Azharuddin's team lost a four-Test series 1-0, and 1997, when Sachin Tendulkar's side were beaten 2-0 in a three-match rubber.

The low-key nature of India's reception can be put down to the fact that Monday was a public holiday in South Africa – Heritage Day – and South Africa's current tour of Zimbabwe (even though Shaun Pollock's team also flew into Johannesburg International on Monday for a three-day break before returning to Harare on Thursday).

Success has eluded previous Indian sides and there are no immediately compelling reasons to believe that the 2001 party are about to break this pattern. They may have one or two things in their favour, however.

The Indians have arrived a full week before their first outing – a gentle stroll against the Nicky Oppenheimer XI next Monday – and, after playing South Africa A on October 3, their first one-day international against South Africa takes p-lace at the Wanderers on October 5.

That gives the Indians 12 days in the country to begin adjusting to the conditions and they will have been in the country for well over a month before the first Test in Bloemfontein in early November.

At a press conference at their luxury Sandton hotel, Ganguly, bravely perhaps, suggested that this should be enough time for the tourists to find their feet. And by then, he added, the tour party should have been reinforced by VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

It is also true that India should reach the final of the one-day triangular in Durban without too much difficult – Kenya are the third side and no one expects them to win a game. Which means that one-day success will hinge on a single match and it would be foolish to discount India's chances in a one-off.

Another factor which may help the Indians is the fact that the first two Tests will be played in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. If the evidence of the two Tests involving New Zealand at these grounds last summer is any guide, then they might not be quite as fast and bouncy as the tourists expect.

To be perfectly blunt, both Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth were low and slow and with the South African seam attack lacking currently lacking an obvious cutting edge – Allan Donald is still some distance away from match-fitness while Mfuneko Ngam is still on the way back from injury – the Indian spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, might yet have a major role to play.

The Indians' best chance of success should come in the first two Tests. The third Test will be played at Centurion Park, which will have pace and bounce and which should suit the South Africans.

But it all will depend on how quickly the core of the Indian batting – Ganguly, Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and, when he arrives, Laxman – come to terms with conditions. If they do manage to settle in, South African could face a far tougher struggle than is presently anticipated.

© CricInfo