***Official*** South Africa in India 2015

[indiaholic]

Yeah quite possibly, since none of our batsmen have looked close to as convincing against spin as the previous generation. A track which has nothing in it for the pacers but spins day 3 onwards would be perfect. I don't rate this SA lineup too high. Lots of unproven youngster in there and it's very reliant on Amla/AB.

You don't think Faf will be good enough? If these three have a good series and some average contributions from the rest should be good enough to nullify the plan.

 

[harsh.ag]

Has to be a pitch where Steyn and Morkel can't do much. That would have half won us the match.

 

[indiaholic]

Has to be a pitch where Steyn and Morkel can't do much. That would have half won us the match.

Is Steyn that pitch dependent though? Winter has started setting in which should make the conditions better for SA and Steyn will depend on reverse in India.. An abrasive pitch won't help us. We won't have Ishant for the first test so don't know who can exploit reverse, if it is available.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

1. Van Zyl
2. Elgar
3. du Plessis
4. Amla
5. AbdV
6. Duminy
7. Vilas +
8. Philander
9. Steyn
10. Harmer/Tahir
11. Morkel

 

[honestbharani]

I am soooo gonna rage when we prepare a rank turner and Duminy runs through our line up a la Clarke..

 

[OverratedSanity]

You don't think Faf will be good enough? If these three have a good series and some average contributions from the rest should be good enough to nullify the plan.

I always forget about Faf for some reason

 

[Contra]

It doesn't matter what kind of pitch is prepared honestly, what matters if India picks their best 11, India's issue has never been the kind of pitches they play on as much as it has to do with the team combinations, in the last few years India has very rarely assembled a complete team and played with it consistently. They'll make like 9 good decisions and one bad one which screws em over lol.

Having said that as long as Ashwin is fully fit and we get Jadeja back, I'd feel really confident of winning the series. We don't need raging turners, just a bit of spin and I'd back us to win. What we need is a 5 man bowling attack to share the workload, and for Pujara to PLEASE NOT BE LEFT OUT.

 

[marc71178]

Exactly. NZ the clear # 2.

LOL, no.

 

[honestbharani]

Is he playing the next round of Ranji? Pujara, I mean? If he outperforms Dhawan there, can we hope to see him as an opener at least?

 

[honestbharani]

LOL, no.

You seem to have missed a trend with our posting in the last page or two there, Marc...

 

[aussie]

LOL, no.

Your right apologies, Bangladesh are # 2.

 

[cnerd123]

Is he playing the next round of Ranji? Pujara, I mean? If he outperforms Dhawan there, can we hope to see him as an opener at least?

Doubt it. He ended the ODI series strong, has a lot of credit in the bank too.

Also 3 spinners a decent ploy. It's not like we have any decent quick bowling options outside of the now-banned Ishant. Ashwin, Mishra and Jadeja have all been bowling well too.

Steyn wont mind a turning pitch. He's pretty good with the old ball when it reverses and an abrasive surface helps that. Duminy is missing the warmups, how likely is he to play in the first Test?

 

[honestbharani]

Think he will be ready for the tests as it is almost a week left to go still. Worried about Dhawan starting the game tbh. I would rather see Pujara. Except for the last match, Dhawan has been in woeful form too. I would say even worse than Raina. So hopefully selectors can take a sensible call.

 

[Dan]

tl;dr there's very little difference between #1 and #7 in the rankings, with everyone generally winning at home and losing away, unless you're weird like South Africa.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Dhawan's test form has been fine though.

 

[longranger]

I think Jadeja should definitely play the first match. He's been in red-hot form with the ball and I see him as a better batsman than Binny and Axar. My XI:

Vijay
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Saha
Jadeja
Ashwin
Mishra
Bhuvi
Umesh

Playing with 3 spinners is going to be the best bet, especially since all of them have been in good form. Bhuvi actually deserves a break to go back and get back to the basis but he should play in the absence of Ishant. Kohli likes his pacemen so I can see Umesh getting a game, especially in Mohali. I'm not sure if Kohli and Shastri will drop Rohit from the team, but the 3-4-5 of Pujara-Kohli-Rahane just makes so much sense.

 

[longranger]

The Presidents XI vs South Africans game should be starting in an hour. It will also be good to see the form of the South African batsmen in red ball cricket.

 

[indiaholic]

pujara

 

[SeamUp]

1. Van Zyl
2. Elgar
3. du Plessis
4. Amla
5. AbdV
6. Duminy
7. Vilas +
8. Philander
9. Steyn
10. Harmer/Tahir
11. Morkel

I reckon so. Bavuma reserve bat. Piedt getting more time around the test group & Rabada chasing.

Elgar coming into his own. A really good head amongst the group as well. Always said it, our next test captain. Plays spin well, looks to attack it. If he gets in, he normally goes big.

Stiaan is all good on the eyes but want to see him get those singles in-between the boundaries. Big series for him but like Elgar they've been scoring hundreds regularly for 10 years now and been tested in all conditions and come out successful.

Vernon, may have dried up in the crazy wickets he was getting but he actually has been bowling quite well and if anything his batting results keeping going up. True all-rounder.

Big test for Harmer. I'm not sure how he will go to be honest. He does turn the ball and so does Piedt which is a nice change for an SA spinner.

 

[SeamUp]

lungani zama ‏@whamzam17 · 12m12 minutes ago
#TourOfIndia Harmer rips his third ball sharply between bat and pad...@officialcsa will be pleased to see that. And now here's @dane_piedt63