***Official*** India in South Africa 2013/14

[Cabinet96]

Philander is such a good cricketer. FMD.

 

[Ray.]

Pathetic bowling combined by some great batting by Verny, SA should cream it from here.

 

[smash84]

lol, even by my standards this anti-jinxing is extreme

 

[jonbrooks]

Shami and Sharma are going to be a real handful when they tour here.

 

[NUFAN]

I went to sleep an over or two in the final session, when I saw the rolling text that SA trail by 60 odd with 4 wickets in hand, I was surprised that India had done so well, but it turns out that SA have made a bit of a comeback too, crazy collapse. Kallis' first golden duck too.

 

[Burgey]

This is shaping up as a cracker. A couple of good nights' viewing coming up.

 

[Jono]

****ing dropped catches.

 

[Flem274*]

So gutted I can't watch this anymore because I'll be on home internet tonight.

 

[Cruxdude]

****ing dropped catches.

Have a very bad feeling about Rohit's drop. Considering the ease with which Philander is handling the new ball and the considerable time before we get a new ball I fear SA will eke out a lead here. The worst thing is the game starts at 12.30 AM my time and the late nights are killing me at work.

 

[91Jmay]

India need to wrap this up within the next hour tomorrow (another crucial first hour ) because if S.A get close or a lead I can't see them losing. India have performed well though so far, nice to see bowlers pitching the ball up. Shami will take plenty of wickets in England.

 

[Jono]

****ing hell I'm so scared about this test match. I really don't want to lose now. Whereas pre-match I'd have taken a Kohli ton and a loss by an innings

 

[Cruxdude]

A loss after competing so well would be a heart breaker, especially with this being a 2 match series. Getting Kallis, AB and Amla so quickly and not capitalizing would be the worst.

 

[Cruxdude]

What always gets me with your posts about Ishant is that you always talk as if he's declined or is out of form or something like that and just needs to go back to how he was bowling earlier in his career to be successful.

Sharma at his best looks awkward without actually taking any wickets. Sharma at his worst just looks as bad as he actually is. Neither iteration is Test standard. And no, the fact that he's just taken a wicket doesn't change that either.

Wouldn't agree with this assessment, Ishant was at his best during the 2008 Aussie series in India and he was MOTS in that and showed lot of potential to be a very good bowler for India. I don't know what went wrong in him after that but he lost his pace and direction and the awkward bounce and everything else that made him decent.

 

[Jono]

FMD this could be a more gut wrenching feeling than this match:

3rd Test: South Africa v India at Cape Town, Jan 2-6, 2007 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[hendrix]

****ing hell I'm so scared about this test match. I really don't want to lose now. Whereas pre-match I'd have taken a Kohli ton and a loss by an innings

A loss after competing so well would be a heart breaker, especially with this being a 2 match series. Getting Kallis, AB and Amla so quickly and not capitalizing would be the worst.

Welcome to NZ-vs-any-good-team over the past couple of years.

Lords test this year is the one that particularly comes to mind.

 

[Jono]

Being a NZ cricket fan would be rough, very much feel for you guys. I pretty much have lived through a similar feeling my whole time following my AFL team here in Australia.

 

[MW1304]

Wouldn't agree with this assessment, Ishant was at his best during the 2008 Aussie series in India and he was MOTS in that and showed lot of potential to be a very good bowler for India. I don't know what went wrong in him after that but he lost his pace and direction and the awkward bounce and everything else that made him decent.

That series is going to be brought up forever more to argue about how Ishant had so much potential, or actually tell people that he was quite good. Truth is he's just pretty crap, has been for over 50 Tests now.

 

[Cruxdude]

That series is going to be brought up forever more to argue about how Ishant had so much potential, or actually tell people that he was quite good. Truth is he's just pretty crap, has been for over 50 Tests now.

Can't argue with the stats after 52 tests, but I saw that series and he was quite good. For a stretch in 2008 he was actually world class (remember a tour of SL too where he was pretty good). He was and still is quite the hard worker too. I blame the bowling coaches and poor player management for his poor career.

 

[Cruxdude]

Welcome to NZ-vs-any-good-team over the past couple of years.

Lords test this year is the one that particularly comes to mind.

Exciting times though for both teams with some good talent in the team. Should be fun times seeing them succeed/fail.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

Turning into a good match. At the moment india is edging it.