***Official*** South Africa in India

[Craig]

What's next, a hattrick to one of the Indian bowlers?

 

[nikhil1772]

India simply failed to apply themselves against a quality three pronged pace attack in seamer friendly conditions.

Well then..in short nothing new happened...

 

[honestbharani]

I don't think RSA will screw this up, tbh... Somehow expect them to put in a really good batting performance and grind us in....

 

[Manee]

The Indian scorecard is not dissimilar to when a greentop is prepared in a Ranji fixture. Perhaps it is a natural deficiency against the brand of green pitches which can be prepared in India.

I do not believe that RP Singh or Sreesanth are Test quality bowlers. Sreesanth simply lacks the venom of the delivery off the pitch to be a potent threat in conditions less than seaming paradises. Although he has bowled with good accuracy and swing in the first Test, I do not see him as a Test quality bowler. RP Singh has been plain awful; I am not sure whether he is unfit or what, but he has been serving up, "hit me" balls throughout the three innings on this series. Moreover, I question whether Sreesanth has the mental and physical stamina for Test cricket. After the first spell, the pace drops to 130kph (from 140kph) and he can't keep an action for more than a few balls before trying some weird and wonderful new approach.

On a pitch like this, get Praveen Kumar and possibly, Munaf Patel in there. It is a shame that Zaheer Khan, who'd love this pitch, is still injured.

 

[kingkallis]

Kallis will perform on this wicket.

He really is looking solid at the moment...

SAF 144/4

Kallis 31*
de villiers 9*

 

[Nishant]

SA building a good partner ship...the game swings heavily in their favour again IMO....india need at least two more wickets in this session to say that they are nt completely out of it ( even though they would be still in a bad position).

 

[Nishant]

Kallis will perform on this wicket.

He really is looking solid at the moment...

SAF 144/4

Kallis 31*
de villiers 9*

yh...kallis looks really solid out there...dnt kno hw india plan to gt him out...the pace bowlers are sooo disappointing...badly missing zaheer khaqn and ishant sharma.

 

[Nishant]

On a pitch like this, get Praveen Kumar and possibly, Munaf Patel in there. It is a shame that Zaheer Khan, who'd love this pitch, is still injured.

RP singh did alrite against the aussies in one of the test matches if i remember correctly...then he gt injured. I dnt think he's 100% fit ATM and he's really lacking confidence...he shouldnt b playing. But then, all our main strike bowlers are injured ( pace wise)...cant help it TBH. Munaf is no good TBH...he's always injured, lazy and a liability in the field...he needs to sort out his act. Praveen Kumar however, was an option that could and perhaps should have been considered.

 

[kingkallis]

Kallis holds the key! If he and AB stays till the stumps then SAF will have atleast 225 on the board and they can start new day by keeping 400 / 450 in their mind

 

[Arjun]

The Indian scorecard is not dissimilar to when a greentop is prepared in a Ranji fixture. Perhaps it is a natural deficiency against the brand of green pitches which can be prepared in India.

I do not believe that RP Singh or Sreesanth are Test quality bowlers. Sreesanth simply lacks the venom of the delivery off the pitch to be a potent threat in conditions less than seaming paradises. Although he has bowled with good accuracy and swing in the first Test, I do not see him as a Test quality bowler. RP Singh has been plain awful; I am not sure whether he is unfit or what, but he has been serving up, "hit me" balls throughout the three innings on this series. Moreover, I question whether Sreesanth has the mental and physical stamina for Test cricket. After the first spell, the pace drops to 130kph (from 140kph) and he can't keep an action for more than a few balls before trying some weird and wonderful new approach.

On a pitch like this, get Praveen Kumar and possibly, Munaf Patel in there. It is a shame that Zaheer Khan, who'd love this pitch, is still injured.

Then what's your solution? Munaf Patel, we've seen, isn't any better, in the matches he got. Praveen Kumar is unproven, and we may see him in the same bracket as Sreesanth and RP Singh. Zaheer Khan, we have seen, struggles to run through teams, despite having played all these matches, and has lost pace once again.

There's nothing left but to persist with this duo, as we've seen them in good form when they started off, and have had good figures at the start of their careers. They've had off days, and have had a lot going against them (flat pitches, flat-falling fielding, defensive fields), so they need a longer run. We don't see a world-class pace unit in this Indian team, when we find that they're changed repeatedly. We brand Sreesanth and RP Singh as 'not Test standard', but don't think Kumble is way past his best and over the hill, going by present form. Or that the spin twins are losing their bite. Or that the Great Indian Test Batting Lineup is now out of time.

 

[Arjun]

RP Singh is having a terrible series. The management has to come together and have a session with him, to get him in the right frame of mind. Lack of swing has weakened him a lot, and lack of pace made him an easy target for shots to the boundary. But it's his mannerisms out there on the field that are really sad. He might just be dropped for the next Test, when there are others, more celebrated, who have also failed, but the people in charge should talk to him before the next match.

And I don't understand the commentators' (especially Rameez and Arun Lal) complaints about pitch. If anything the Indian team needs more pitches like these in home matches, so that they prepare better for Test matches away. They are no longer the force to reckon with on their traditional flat decks or square turners, as proven by Australia, then South Africa, then England and finally Pakistan. They need their pacers in good nick to win consistently, at home and away, and a three-seam attack at home is a good step ahead. Moreover, man for man, a team with these big names is far more capable than that other team dependent heavily on Graeme Smith. Let's just admit, the batsmen were terrible.

 

[Arjun]

And then, what should have been a direct-throw run-out was a missed throw not backed up, headed to the boundary, through Kumble's legs, handing SA an advantage. How do you expect India's pace attack to be world class when the fielding support is so dreadful, so long?

 

[Arjun]

Good observation by Rameez- India have not bowled too many short-pitched deliveries.

Irfan has looked decent, giving little away, bowling straight, but getting no swing at all. He's also got good pace, bowling one last delivery at 139.7k, but that was down the wrong line. He should stay in the side for the next match, and hopefully he'll get back the new ball (wasted by RP) and some support.

 

[Manee]

RP singh did alrite against the aussies in one of the test matches if i remember correctly...then he gt injured. I dnt think he's 100% fit ATM and he's really lacking confidence...he shouldnt b playing. But then, all our main strike bowlers are injured ( pace wise)...cant help it TBH. Munaf is no good TBH...he's always injured, lazy and a liability in the field...he needs to sort out his act. Praveen Kumar however, was an option that could and perhaps should have been considered.

I am starting to become unsure about RP Singh in Australia. I am starting to think that his figures may have been carried by the large amount of swing in carry that he could extract in Australia simply meaning that his few good balls picked up wickets. In the second Test, he went for 4.76 & 4.62 runs per over. In the third Test, he went for 4.85 & 4.35 runs per over. Perhaps he has issues with consistency. Unless you are an express fast bowler like Dale Steyn, you cannot afford to go for around 4.00 runs per over, but nearing 5 runs per over is unacceptable - whoever you are.

Furthermore, Indian bowlers lack stamina like no other country. RP Singh and Sreesanth have shown themselves both capable of 140kph in ODIs and T20s but can only maintain 130kph in Tests. Likewise, Zaheer Khan showed himself capable of bowling near 145kph in the early sector of his career; but his body slowed him down to 130kph exclusively by 2005. Munaf Patel is a fourth example, Greg Chappell remarked that he does not have the body for a 145kph career and his performances have shown cases of general body stiffness and days of awfullness. However, Munaf's innings to innings issues may be caused by a lack of front arm. This being said, he slows down during innings too, from start to finish. I don't know if it is diet or upbringing or whatever, the BCCI need to work to overcome it. It is no coincidence that South Africa succeeded with three bowlers over 140kph.

 

[Arjun]

RP Singh is looking terrible out there. Running in diagonally, bowling less than 130k, short and wide, and the ball isn't rising. Captain needs to take him out of the attack, even off the field, for that session with Kirsten and Paddy.

 

[Manee]

Irfan has looked decent, giving little away, bowling straight, but getting no swing at all. He's also got good pace, bowling one last delivery at 139.7k, but that was down the wrong line. He should stay in the side for the next match, and hopefully he'll get back the new ball (wasted by RP) and some support.

Yes, it has been a very good spell. His action looks cringeworthy to me though, it is so mechanical - I understand that it was felt necessary by TA Sekhar and Dennis Lillee to change his action - but the job does not seem to have been completed to me. For one, he is not using his front arm, which was one of the main aims of the new action. Also, I don't know if he collapses on his front leg, he is bowling with a lack of backspin or he is skidding it off a short length but the trajectory looks very flat to me.

 

[ret]

disgraceful batting performance by India .... another batting collapse .... SA deserve to win this one, i hope that SA pile up a huge total and dismiss Ind cheaply in the 2nd innings too

this is a price India has to pay for over-rating ppl like Jaffar, Ganguly and Laxman, along with persisting with a restrictive Bhajji. It's damn common sense that you cannot have both Jaffar and Ganguly in the playing 11, it's like playing two duds at the same time .... as I said earlier, Kumble is a good captain but his team selection is not up to the mark

Hoping to see some new faces [a sliver lining] in the Indian team at Kanpur

 

[Manee]

RP Singh is looking terrible out there. Running in diagonally, bowling less than 130k, short and wide, and the ball isn't rising. Captain needs to take him out of the attack, even off the field, for that session with Kirsten and Paddy.

RP Singh's action seems to rely on getting into the correct body position after a brisk jog of a run up. However, when he cannot get into the right position, he has no run up speed to fall back on in terms of pace and accuracy - a fast run up naturally helping to propel the ball to where you are running to. Perhaps that this is something that Prasad could look at.

 

[Arjun]

RP Singh and Sreesanth have shown themselves both capable of 140kph in ODIs and T20s but can only maintain 130kph in Tests.

On the day, the fastest is Sreesanth, and his lack of pace is a matter of concern. He isn't even trying to bowl fast or blast the batsmen physically. The captain or coach should order him to bowl like (or out-perform) Steyn, because that's when he's at his best.

I don't know if it is diet or upbringing or whatever, the BCCI need to work to overcome it

Playing two seamers (with no batsman supporting) on flat Indian wickets is no way to get over it.

 

[irfan]

Completely forgot we were playing 2day. Looked at the score and am still unable to get the shocked expression of my face. A/O for 76???

Steyn 5/23 - an absolute champ gonna be betta than AD (big call I know)