***Official*** South Africa in India

[ret]

I don't think it's a bad effort by Ind .... some sides could have got 30-40 more runs .... 4 SA batsmen are in the hut and with one more specialist to come, it's not a bad perfo by Ind .... I have seen Australia lose here, despite scoring 300+ on the first day .... you need to score like 750 runs, both innings combined, on such surfaces. lets say SA get bowled out of 425, which would mean they will need like 325 its 2nd innings and thats when the surface would be becoming tough to bat on .... if SA manage anything more than 500 then it would make things easy for them

 

[Manee]

Really, it's easy to pick holes in selection when things go wrong and you had other opens, but I probably would have gone for the exact same team, as I bet many would have.

I probably would have gone with this team, but there is nothing wrong with hindsight.

 

[social]

You would have played Pathan ahead of RP or Sree?

I can see arguing ALSO playing Pathan instead of a batsman, but not ahead of them.

Bingo!

Given that the last 2 teams to be generally acknowledged as the best in the world had 4 man attacks, selectors think this is a must

Unfortunately, they conveniently ignore the fact that those teams had a minimum of 2 greats backed up by excellent/promising bowlers with enormous stamina

This Indian attack has none of the above and unless the pitch was a shocker they did not have a hope in hell of containing SA

Anyway, bring on the avatars as this series has all the hallmarks of a disaster for India

 

[silentstriker]

Anyway, bring on the avatars as this series has all the hallmarks of a disaster for India

I've no idea how you can proclaim that after day one of the first Test on a flat Indian track where the spinners still managed to take four wickets.

 

[Manee]

I've no idea how you can proclaim that after day one of the first Test on a flat Indian track where the spinners still managed to take four wickets.

Yes. AWTA.

With India having so many pace bowlers, perhaps they can (when everyone is fit), look at who are the most successful bowlers in India. I think that FC records could help determine this for many players. For someone like Sreesanth, who is improving and has improved massively since joining the Indian squad, his international figures may have to come into the frame.

An interesting graphic I saw on an Indian forum shows that the two most successful bowlers in India since 2005 are both on the fringes of selection; but large and small injuries respectively prevent long stints with the side. Will India ever think about a 'home specialist' set of fast bowlers? Perhaps Praveen Kumar, with his banana swing and fine domestic record, could be another in that hypothetical list

Interesting furthermore to see that Pathan, having played the most games in India since 2005, has shown himself, moreso than others as pretty poor in India...

 

[JBH001]

Anyway, bring on the avatars as this series has all the hallmarks of a disaster for India

Hahahaha!

Social = President of the I Hate Indian Cricket Society.

LOL!

 

[Arjun]

With so much talked about the bowlers, how come little is spoken about the fielding? Even as I'm watching, RP Singh (one of the better fielders in the team) attempted yet another ailed dive, and Dravid (in the centre of a seniors v/s youngsters crossfire) let the ball slip through. More tha a few catches were dropped yesterday. Then you wonder why the Indian pacers have such dreadful figures.

And I can't understand, why can't Indian curators prepare seamer-friendly pitches? The Indian seamers desperately need helpful pitches to be of any use, while the batsmen, especially in this match, man to man, are capable of scoring even when the pitches help the seamers. This flat pitch is doing more damage than good to the Indian team.

 

[Corli]

Oh well done Hashim Amla! Good innings from him.

 

[Protean]

Beautiful couple of shots to bring up Amla's 100.

 

[Sanz]

And I can't understand, why can't Indian curators prepare seamer-friendly pitches? The Indian seamers desperately need helpful pitches to be of any use, while the batsmen, especially in this match, man to man, are capable of scoring even when the pitches help the seamers. This flat pitch is doing more damage than good to the Indian team.

Pitch is flat no doubt, but Our bowlers have been bowling pies too.

 

[Sanz]

In 6 overs this morning SA have added 40 runs.

 

[Sanz]

Finally

 

[Protean]

Finally

at Sreesanth's expression when he got that! Doesn't look like the meditation is working to me.

 

[Checkmate]

Sreesanth!!! Love this guy.

 

[Arjun]

RP Singh has looked off colour, and the commentators have pointed out a flaw in his action. That's a verystrained, unbalanced action, and maybe that's why. But when even Kumble and Harbhajan are getting hit for fours as well, it's not just the bowlers who are at fault, with so many failed dives and misfields on show.

 

[Arjun]

It seems to have taken an eternity for the captain to bring Ganguly on to bowl, and he took really long to complete that over. Why they didn't call him on to bowl yesterday, is beyond understanding. They only have four bowlers, and only two seamers among them, so clearly, there wre at least 13 overs he could complete. The score would have been very different then. With four bowlers (including two overworked seamers) slogging it out on a flat pitch, in a fast outfield, in the heat, they needed an extended spell by him (or any other batsman).

 

[Sanz]

Gosh, couldn't they get time for a hair cut. It is so hot and all these guys carrying couple of pounds of black hair over their head in this scorching heat and humidity

 

[Sanz]

That looked plumb, there may have been a nick though.

 

[Protean]

Wow, India's fielding has gone from bad to worse.

 

[Arjun]

The Indian fielding has been so bad, even if the bowlers turn world class in an over, they still wouldn't get wickets. This kind of fielding simply can't win matches. There are too many India Gate attempts out there, and the throwing has been wild.

The only way out for India is with Jaffer and Sehwag smashing Steyn all around the Chennai ground, keeping his economy well over five. If an also-ran like Amla can score so big here, there's no reason why Jaffer can't, and the rest of the batting lineup are Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly and Dhoni.

Remember the series? Two matches in a row, the Indians posted huge scores batting first, and had the Pakistanis under the hammer, but the flat pitches, fast outfields and heat were too much for the under-manned bowling attack, so both matches ended in draws. This Test may follow the same pattern. No result likely.