Chennai, March 23: In cricket, as in life, there are friends and there are foes. Funnily enough, the roles are sometimes reversed. The South African and Indian Test teams that assembled here on Saturday are classic examples of the flip-flop nature not only of the game but of human nature, too.

The visiting Proteas seemed to have found a readymade ally in alien surroundings in the weather over Chennai. All the rain and its effect on pitch preparation would mean that the Test at the Chidambaram Stadium, the first in the series, would represent the most friendly conditions the visitors can expect in the series.

However, they have two men who were till most recently their allies are now in the opposite camp. The first is, of course, the Team India coach, Gary Kirsten, who has opened the innings with the South African captain, Graeme Smith, in 20 Test matches.

The other is Paddy Upton, the South African from the Cape, who is now Team India’s mental conditioning coach. Having made champions out of men like Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher, the highly regarded mind trainer is now in the Indian camp.

Proteas coach Mickey Arthur and skipper Smith are convinced that Upton will not reveal the South African players’ innermost secretes because they are virtually like doctor-patient relationships.

Smith, as upbeat a captain as you may find in the cricket world, is also convinced that the presence of his former opening partner in the opposite camp does not faze him.

"I have a lot of respect for Gary, the way he approached the game and what he did for South Africa. It doesn’t faze us too much that he’s now employed as the Indian coach and, on a personal level, we wish him success in his new career."

Smith also said that the series would be a testing time for Kirsten. "It’s going to be a challenge for him too. He knows South African cricket so well, but he needs to find a way into India and their method of playing," he said.

It is also peculiar that India, with its active social engineering for just over 60 years should have no reservation policy in sport, which is strictly merit-based, while its opponent should stand divided over how far reservation should apply to its sports teams.

The Langeveldt affair, with the coloured fast bowler, a former jail warden, withdrawing from the tour of India because he was preferred over Andre Nel on the basis of racial quotas, has left the Rainbow nation quite confused. His replacement, the exotically named Monde Zondeki, is a nephew of Steve Shwete, a Nelson Mandela confidant and former sports minister of the Republic.

"It is a bit disappointing. We feel for the players and have spoken to them. It affects the team certainly. But we are mature enough and our job is to continue with the game," Smith said.