*Official* India in South Africa

[Bun]

One of the best innings I've seen from him. India can put this loss to getting the worst part of the weather and pitch while batting but I doubt they'll moan about it unlike the South Africans who cried murder the moment they see a turner in the subcontiment and submit meekly.

 

[Days of Grace]

Strolling in for your second innings with the team needing 270 runs just to make the opposition bat again is pretty much the dictionary definition of a "no-pressure" situation. What difference would it have made if Tendulkar had got out first ball? None whatsoever.

So Laxman`s 281 was in a no-pressure situation and therefore isn`t rated by you?

 

[TumTum]

So Laxman`s 281 was in a no-pressure situation and therefore isn`t rated by you?

Hmm I agree with Furball here. There wasn't much pressure when that innings was played, but it was still a great innings (we all know why).

 

[Spark]

Furball has a point. When your team is so hopelessly out of it then the pressure is basically off - cf Headingley 09, Gabba a few weeks ago

Still a remarkable innings, but not a "high-pressure" one. Just goes to show that an innings doesn't have to be made "under pressure" to be great.

 

[GotSpin]

Tendulkar could have made that century when it actually mattered in regards to his teams fortunes, not when India are basically batting in an effort to stave off the inevitable.

 

[Cruxdude]

Wow. The number 1 team facing a humiliating innings defeat after all the hype surrounding the series, Yes no pressure. I am pretty sure there would have been loads of people bagging him for not scoring when needed if he had failed.

 

[Dasa]

Tendulkar could have made that century when it actually mattered in regards to his teams fortunes, not when India are basically batting in an effort to stave off the inevitable.

Because obviously he's never done that before. What a **** player!

 

[GotSpin]

Wow. The number 1 team facing a humiliating innings defeat after all the hype surrounding the series, Yes no pressure. I am pretty sure there would have been loads of people bagging him for not scoring when needed if he had failed.

Justifiably so, but it still remains that he failed when his team really needed him. It's like Laxman's second innings average, if he'd scored those runs in the first innings he may not have put his team in such a situation that it needed to be saved

 

[Cruxdude]

Justifiably so, but it still remains that he failed when his team really needed him. It's like Laxman's second innings average, if he'd scored those runs in the first innings he may not have put his team in such a situation that it needed to be saved

Haha. The team almost always needs your runs most when you fail.

 

[GotSpin]

Because obviously he's never done that before. What a **** player!

Stop being so sensitive. I didn't knock the quality of the innings itself, but rather it's importance

 

[GotSpin]

Haha. The team almost always needs your runs most when you fail.

And so deserves criticism for filling his boots when the match is beyond repair.

 

[Spark]

Got_Spin has a point as well. First innings runs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> second innings runs. Making runs under pressure is often talked about, but it's often forgotten that even better is making runs to not put your team under pressure in the first place.

 

[Cruxdude]

And so deserves criticism for filling his boots when the match is beyond repair.

If Dhoni hadn't got out this game could still have been saved. This is totally not a case of filling his boots when it is beyond repair.

 

[popepouri]

SRT is so ****ing awesome. 50 centuries will be hard to catch. It's possible it may never be caught given how early he started his career and how many runs he's scored.

 

[GotSpin]

If Dhoni hadn't got out this game could still have been saved. This is totally not a case of filling his boots when it is beyond repair.

The match was basically gone. They would never have lasted 7 sessions to amount a total worth defending for the last session. The only way India was going to draw this match was if Steyn got injured or it just rained for half a day.

 

[Cruxdude]

Got_Spin has a point as well. First innings runs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> second innings runs. Making runs under pressure is often talked about, but it's often forgotten that even better is making runs to not put your team under pressure in the first place.

Well this argument is kind of weird, when he scores in the first innings we have people talking about his 2nd innings and when he does the other we have people talking about the first. What people tend to forget is that India could well have had a good chance at saving this test if Dhoni had stayed at the crease. When the two were putting on the runs many were saying a draw seems very much possible and once Dhoni gets out Sachin is filling up his boots.

 

[Cruxdude]

The match was basically gone. They would never have lasted 7 sessions to amount a total worth defending for the last session. The only way India was going to draw this match was if Steyn got injured or it just rained for half a day.

Rain is a possibility for the latter part of the last day and batting for two more sessions is not impossible.

 

[GotSpin]

Well this argument is kind of weird, when he scores in the first innings we have people talking about his 2nd innings and when he does the other we have people talking about the first. What people tend to forget is that India could well have had a good chance at saving this test if Dhoni had stayed at the crease. When the two were putting on the runs many were saying a draw seems very much possible and once Dhoni gets out Sachin is filling up his boots.

Essentially if you make enough runs in the first innings then it should more than cover up inadequacies for the second innings. It's only under the microscope when the rest of the team fails in the first innings and a second innings is therefore required.

 

[GotSpin]

Rain is a possibility for the latter part of the last day and batting for two more sessions is not impossible.

And yet the fact remains that had Tendulkar/India scored more runs on the first day they wouldn't have lost this test match considering that the wicket has flattened out drastically in comparison to the first day.

 

[Dasa]

Only with Tendulkar is it possible that scoring 100 invites even more criticism.