An easterly wind blew into Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, shrouding St George's Park in drizzle and driving South Africa into the indoor nets two days ahead of the second Castle Lager/MTN Test match. At the same time, though, the direction of the wind would have set India thinking about the composition of their side for what could prove the deciding match of their South African tour.

Local wisdom has it that the ball swings at St George's Park when the wind comes in from the east. When the westerly or prevailing wind blows, however, the pitch dries out and, if it blows for long enough, spinners can come into their own on the fourth and fifth days of a Test.

So should India, who seem bound to play only four bowlers once again, go in with two and two, or should they field three seamers and leave out a spinner? If the latter is the case, the word is that Anil Kumble will go, leaving Harbhajan Singh to wheel away on his own.

Two days ahead of a Test match that India cannot afford to lose if they are to stay in the series, the St George's Park pitch looked hard beneath a generous covering of grass. It will be shaved on Thursday, but the South African coach Graham Ford seemed to be happy with it.

"It looks as if it will have some pace and carry," he said. "That's really all we ask for. We've never asked for greentops and the ball to go sideways, but if there's pace there our guys enjoy bowling and batting on it, and I think it makes for entertaining cricket."

None of which is really any help to Sourav Ganguly, Indian coach John Wright (whose contract, curiously, now comes up for renewal in mid-tour) and the touring team, who have to find away to turn around a nine-wicket defeat in Bloemfontein's first Test.

If it is any comfort to the Indians, Ford is wary of describing the margin of victory as an accurate reflection of the difference between the two teams. "For three days it was anyone's game before they had their collapse," he said. "What pleased me was the way we came back after they'd had much the better of the first day. They're a good team, make no mistake."

Are they good enough, though, to beat South Africa on South African soil, something no Indian team has succeeded in during two previous tours? And to make the task just a little more difficult, it now seems to have emerged that no one wants to open the batting with Shiv Das.

Rahul Dravid filled in at the top in the first Test, but if the whispers from the Indian camp are to be believed, he has said no thank you to a repeat performance. And neither, apparently, does VVS Laxman want to go in at the top of the order. It may come down, then, to Ganguly taking on the role, a prospect which will not displease the South Africans who will have noted his discomfort against the short, lifting ball in Bloemfontein.

Not that Ford is about to make too much of this. "That's their problem, but you've still got to get them out wherever they come in," he said.

South Africa, meanwhile, are likely to go into the match with the team that won in Bloemfontein. This would mean there will be no place at this stage for Jacques Rudolph, although his presence in the squad inevitably puts pressure on Boeta Dippenaar, who was the only South African in the top six to fail in the first Test.

"Boeta's very level-headed," said Ford. "He deals with the ups and downs of cricket very well. I'm not worried about him."

So India, really, are the team that has to make the tough choices. Three seamers or two? And if there are only two, will Ashish Nehra partner Javagal Srinath or will it be Ajit Agarkar who, Wright conceded at the end of the first Test, should have played in Bloemfontein?

Agarkar is held in some esteem by the South Africans who respect his willingness to run in. At the same time, it is true that the home side probably haven't seen the best of Nehra, although the washout of the East London match last weekend prevented the left-armer getting more overs under his belt.

It's a hard call for the tourists, whichever way they choose to play it. And the answer, as Bob Dylan noted nearly four decades ago, might well be blowing in the wind.

© CricInfo