*Official* South Africa in India

[TT Boy]

Or better yet, just open with Amla.

They didn't even bring a spare opener on the tour though; that's the weird thing. If they drop Prince (or drop Duminy and move Prince) Virus will open the batting and he's just yet another middle order batsman, albeit one who has done *some* opening before. For this reason I thought Elgar would've been the better selection but I might have just been brainwashed by jboss.

Botha. And in defence of Virus, it was through opening that he was parachuted into the national set-up and it was as opener that he went to India with the A team and scored a first class century against India A with Sharma, Mishra, Ojha et cetera.

 

[Prince EWS]

IIRC Pietersen does open domestically in SA.

Hmm well he did open in his last game. I know he's done some opening in his time, but I always thought he was a middle order batsman who could open if required, like Dippenaar for example.

 

[Prince EWS]

Botha. And in defence of Virus, it was through opening that he was parachuted into the national set-up and it was as opener that he went to India with the A team and scored a first class century against India A with Sharma, Mishra, Ojha et cetera.

Fair enough.

 

[Uppercut]

Scored runs against Australia. Therefore, people think he's gun.
Plus the fact that he took wickets against England.

Just the one century in six tests tbf. Although it was a bloody brilliant century.

Prince scored a hundred against them too in his solitary test. That was opening though. It's easy to forget just how well he was playing before Duminy took his place. Batting at five, in the six tests prior to the injury which kept him out of the tour to Australia-four against England and two against Bangladesh-, Prince hit 549 runs @ 91. Only Bangladesh, but it shows just how sick the guy's form was. Anyone who watched them has to agree that his two crucial centuries in the first two tests in England were seriously impressive.

The country- and the world, actually- was somewhat caught up in the, uhm, excitement of JP Duminy after that innings. Fantastic to watch, extremely likeable, electric in the field. Prince isn't a popular cricketer, it's easy to miss how harsh his dropping was. Dropping Duminy would have been a huge decision too of course, and it was a horrendously difficult choice for the selectors to make. But given Duminy hasn't built on that innings at all since, it doesn't really make sense to me that he's kept his place in the middle order when there's such a good alternative available. I suppose his bowling could have bought him a little more time. But are they really hoping for it to do any damage to India?

Perhaps there's more to the whole scenario than I'm aware of. There always seems to be with Ashwell Prince.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Wow i didn't even know it started today!! like many others i'm looking forward to this one, nothing like two of the big hitters going toe to toe, this won't be no Australia vs Pakistan that's for sure, and i like to watch these top sides to see just how far or close we are to them.

 

[morgieb]

If Laxman is fit, and Rohit Sharma gets picked ahead of Badranith, I'll kill someone.

 

[Jono]

Rohit isn't playing against Badri. He's definitely only cover for VVS.

 

[silentstriker]

if laxman is fit, and rohit sharma gets picked ahead of badranith, i'll kill someone.

awta.

 

[silentstriker]

Rohit isn't playing against Badri. He's definitely only cover for VVS.

We'll see. I'll buy that when the XI is announced. Rohit is in the squad, so it could be that Laxman plays and Rohit fills in for Yuvi.

 

[SeamUp]

I was quite surprised when Rohit got the call-up tbh...where does Virat Kohli, Manish Pansey & Cheteshwar Pujara lie in the call-up stakes???

This will be a tough series for my boys but we've got a good record against India and will look to continue that.

I still think the 1st test is crucial though being its only a 2 test series. Should have been 3 minimum and 4 tests being the top 2 in the world going hammer and tong.

 

[silentstriker]

Haha Rohit Sharma is out! He got injured in the warmups - there are no other batsmen in the squad. Anyone from Ranji trophy standing around the ground?

 

[Jono]

That sucks.

 

[silentstriker]

Is it ridiculous that we're playing a guy who is averaging 35 as a main batsman? Seriously? WTF?

Have a bigger squad FFS! I'd rather have a Irfan Pathan, if we can't get a real batsman.

 

[Jono]

This is incredible. Can't quite believe it.

India went out from $3.5 to $4.4 with this news and SA batting first.

 

[silentstriker]

I would seriously just send a message out, if you bat in the top five and average 45+, and you get to the stadium the fastest, you get a Test debut.

 

[silentstriker]

Yea, India are done. They will bat last, and their batting has just been eviscerated. It's done. Draw if India are lucky.

 

[Jono]

Okay I'm getting angrier and angrier at this news.

 

[Shri]

Saha? WTF is wrong with my head today? Hallucinating.

 

[silentstriker]

Haha, so bizarre. Anyway, Saha can't be worse than Yuvraj, so we'll call that a wash. But the loss of Laxman and Dravid vs. the #1 bowler in the world is pretty brutal.

 

[Briony]

India might be batting last but SA doesn't have spinners. It will rely upon its pacemen to reverse swing etc.