-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
***Official*** South Africa in India 2015
- Thread starter SeamUp
- Start date
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
Wow how good was Murali Vijay today 
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
the bowler or the batsman?We'd kill for a Ganguly right now
G.I.Joe
International Coach
Murali Vijay was brilliant.Wow how good was Murali Vijay today
Vijay, on the other hand, was **** as usual.
G.I.Joe
International Coach
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
The word pessimism ceases to exist when the discussion is on the Indian new ball bowlers... It is just speaking the truth.Refering to the pessimistic attitude
Genuine question: how many batters manage to average 40+ in RSA FC cricket? If the pitches are even half as juicy as they sometimes are for tests in RSA, it would be a genuine sign of quality, tbh.
Didn't he say he had tennis elbow issues? And I am not sure how fully recovered he is from his side strain. Maybe that is why he was dropped down the order.
You and the Indian fast bowlers have this in common - you never EVER learn from your mistakes..
The word Kohli loves is "expressive"...
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
watch out guys, hb's just logged on
Its easier to use multiquote when I get to CW from the lappi...
Daemon
Request Your Custom Title Now!
haha yeah, multiquote is best for what you do
harsh.ag
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yup. Unless Aaron and Umesh bowl more than 20 overs tomorrow.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
CricAddict
Cricketer Of The Year
We have Sir to take out God.
StephenZA
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Vilas and lower order are probably good for 100 max, thus Elgar, Amla and ABD will have to play well to get another 150+; will be tough but doable. One good partnership of 75+ might make India a little nervous. 50 runs on this wicket is going to be big!
But God >>> Sir
Last edited:
artvandalay
State Vice-Captain
Not a good cricket wicket - Elgar
'We knew India would prepare wickets like this' - Elgar
After India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar had repeatedly defended the track in Mohali, Dean Elgar, the opening batsman who nearly doubled his career wicket tally with a four-wicket haul, was asked what he thought of the pitch.
"Honestly?" he asked, and looked hesitantly at the South Africa media manager, without drawing any reaction from her whatsoever. Then he went on regardless: "I don't think it's a very good cricket wicket. It is my personal opinion. It is a result wicket, which is expected when you come here. But kudos to India, they are obviously going to prepare wickets like these against us, I'm sure. And we know coming here, it was going to be very different from what we are used to. So it's not a very good cricket wicket, but it is a result wicket, which can go either way."
It was a dry pitch, something Sunil Gavaskar said at the pitch report he had "never seen before". The middle part of the pitch was flat and low, and the good length scuffed up, offering slow but generous turn. It negated the South Africa fast bowlers, and brought it down to spin and reverse swing. India, not quite equal to the task, squandered the advantage of batting first and were bowled out on 201.
"It is a very challenging wicket," Bangar said. "I am not saying it is a good wicket or a bad wicket, but it is a very challenging wicket wherein run-making is not easy so I would say it looks 201 on the board, but it is actually worth far more than 201."
Bangar was asked that while the home advantage exists, what he thought of the pitch offering so much turn so early in the game. "When an Indian team goes overseas, you cannot say that the extent of seam movement, or the extent of movement in the air, there should be a fixed criteria," Bangar said. "'Okay if it swings this much or if it seams this much then only they are the ideal conditions. The extent of spin, seam or swing is something that cannot be fixed or measured. It is a challenge for all the batsmen. Equally taking wickets or scoring runs on such tracks is an art. Players will have to apply all their skills.
"I don't think it started to spin from the first over. In the first half it really played well. Most of the wickets, if you see, they were not really [because of spin]. The ball didn't really turn that much. I think it is a mental skill and a mental challenge for the batsmen to score runs on such wickets."
Elgar disagreed with the notion that green tracks outside Asia posed a similar challenge. "Well I'm sure it has its flip side as well," Elgar said. "I would think that generally when cricket is played on a green wicket, it lasts longer than it does on a spinning wicket. But yeah, I'm not really talking too much about this wicket. Mentioned what I wanted to mention and that's it."
When asked to compare it with the tracks in Sri Lanka and what he tried to do on this pitch, Elgar said all he had to do in Mohali was land it in "half-decent" areas. "It [the pitch] is a lot different," Elgar said. "It is like a day-four wicket now, the way I see it. So I batted on day one in Sri Lanka most days. So it is a lot different.
"With regards to my bowling, I think a lot of times when the batters face me, they don't want to go after me, and they become a little tentative. Fortunately the wicket had broken up quite a bit and there was quite a bit of rough. I just tried to land in a half-decent area. It worked out for me. I'm thankful that the batters were a little tentative against me, which is quite nice and worked in my favour and hopefully I can carry on."
The pitch has been a matter of much speculation leading up to the Test, not least because of India's recent demands for tracks that turn from ball one. The Indian camp remained tight-lipped about how the pitch was likely to behave, or even whether they were satisfied with what Daljit Singh, the Mohali curator, had rolled out for them. There was a long conversation between the team leadership - Virat Kohli and the assistant coaches - and Daljit three days before the Test after which brushes made of intertwined coir rope were used to dust parts of the surface. A groundsman said this was being done to bring some sheen to the surface. It must also be kept in mind this surface has not been relaid for 23 years.
Daljit is perhaps the only curator in the country who takes the reporters next to the pitch and explains to them the nature of the track and how it is expected to behave. This time, though, for some reason, he had that customary chat at the edge of the square, which meant nobody was allowed to see the pitch in the lead-up to the Test. Daljit was also uncharacteristically cagey about predicting the behaviour of the pitch.
Thoughts? It didn't play like the usual Mohali pitch.
'We knew India would prepare wickets like this' - Elgar
After India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar had repeatedly defended the track in Mohali, Dean Elgar, the opening batsman who nearly doubled his career wicket tally with a four-wicket haul, was asked what he thought of the pitch.
"Honestly?" he asked, and looked hesitantly at the South Africa media manager, without drawing any reaction from her whatsoever. Then he went on regardless: "I don't think it's a very good cricket wicket. It is my personal opinion. It is a result wicket, which is expected when you come here. But kudos to India, they are obviously going to prepare wickets like these against us, I'm sure. And we know coming here, it was going to be very different from what we are used to. So it's not a very good cricket wicket, but it is a result wicket, which can go either way."
It was a dry pitch, something Sunil Gavaskar said at the pitch report he had "never seen before". The middle part of the pitch was flat and low, and the good length scuffed up, offering slow but generous turn. It negated the South Africa fast bowlers, and brought it down to spin and reverse swing. India, not quite equal to the task, squandered the advantage of batting first and were bowled out on 201.
"It is a very challenging wicket," Bangar said. "I am not saying it is a good wicket or a bad wicket, but it is a very challenging wicket wherein run-making is not easy so I would say it looks 201 on the board, but it is actually worth far more than 201."
Bangar was asked that while the home advantage exists, what he thought of the pitch offering so much turn so early in the game. "When an Indian team goes overseas, you cannot say that the extent of seam movement, or the extent of movement in the air, there should be a fixed criteria," Bangar said. "'Okay if it swings this much or if it seams this much then only they are the ideal conditions. The extent of spin, seam or swing is something that cannot be fixed or measured. It is a challenge for all the batsmen. Equally taking wickets or scoring runs on such tracks is an art. Players will have to apply all their skills.
"I don't think it started to spin from the first over. In the first half it really played well. Most of the wickets, if you see, they were not really [because of spin]. The ball didn't really turn that much. I think it is a mental skill and a mental challenge for the batsmen to score runs on such wickets."
Elgar disagreed with the notion that green tracks outside Asia posed a similar challenge. "Well I'm sure it has its flip side as well," Elgar said. "I would think that generally when cricket is played on a green wicket, it lasts longer than it does on a spinning wicket. But yeah, I'm not really talking too much about this wicket. Mentioned what I wanted to mention and that's it."
When asked to compare it with the tracks in Sri Lanka and what he tried to do on this pitch, Elgar said all he had to do in Mohali was land it in "half-decent" areas. "It [the pitch] is a lot different," Elgar said. "It is like a day-four wicket now, the way I see it. So I batted on day one in Sri Lanka most days. So it is a lot different.
"With regards to my bowling, I think a lot of times when the batters face me, they don't want to go after me, and they become a little tentative. Fortunately the wicket had broken up quite a bit and there was quite a bit of rough. I just tried to land in a half-decent area. It worked out for me. I'm thankful that the batters were a little tentative against me, which is quite nice and worked in my favour and hopefully I can carry on."
The pitch has been a matter of much speculation leading up to the Test, not least because of India's recent demands for tracks that turn from ball one. The Indian camp remained tight-lipped about how the pitch was likely to behave, or even whether they were satisfied with what Daljit Singh, the Mohali curator, had rolled out for them. There was a long conversation between the team leadership - Virat Kohli and the assistant coaches - and Daljit three days before the Test after which brushes made of intertwined coir rope were used to dust parts of the surface. A groundsman said this was being done to bring some sheen to the surface. It must also be kept in mind this surface has not been relaid for 23 years.
Daljit is perhaps the only curator in the country who takes the reporters next to the pitch and explains to them the nature of the track and how it is expected to behave. This time, though, for some reason, he had that customary chat at the edge of the square, which meant nobody was allowed to see the pitch in the lead-up to the Test. Daljit was also uncharacteristically cagey about predicting the behaviour of the pitch.
Thoughts? It didn't play like the usual Mohali pitch.
Burner
International Regular
Meh, the players should just get on with it. Regardless of whether it is a good pitch or not, it provided some very intense entertainment. I love the pitch, that maybe because I am sitting on my ass and enjoying good batsmen look foolish but what fun is there if all pitches behave the same way.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Do the other Indian commentators not pronounce them correctly? Why not? Is it regional variation or do they just think that on an English commentary channel everything should be anglicised? If it's the former I could understand perhaps, but it'd be pretty annoying if it's the latter.
Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Nah, was ****. Shouldn't have attempted it so early in his inning. He is no Sehwag/Warner.
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Meh, always seems like players are having a whinge in situations like this, but he didn't make a point of going to the press conference to talk about the pitch. He was asked what he thought of it and gave an honest answer. I don't really agree with him but given he took four and finished not out, "just get on with it" is precisely what he did.