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

[OverratedSanity]

Watched most of the first session and this is a perfectly good pitch for Test cricket. I've always found it interesting the way people are so anti pitches that suit spinners right from the word go. Why is it that it's okay for a team to pick 4 seamers and no spin options on a deck that suits it, but it'd be an outrage if we had a surface requiring only spinners?

There's no rule that pace bowlers have to make up the majority of your attack, it's just the way it's always been. Having an occasional game that focuses on spin bowling throughout, as opposed to just the 3rd/4th innings, is fine by me.

It's also not as if this pitch has provided nothing to the pacers either. That reverse Morkel got was massive.

 

[StephenZA]

Pitches aren't prepared to "improve teams", they are their to be played cricket on, will SA produce spinning wickets to get better at spin? I'd laugh if they did.

Also you act as if SA have never produced conditions that make a ridiculous number of wickets falling in a day, remember Aus-SA 2011? I sure do.

It's easy to blame the pitches when the real problem is the general quality of batsmenship, India aren't AS GOOD as they were before, and SA have mostly inexperienced players with a few good ones. The bowlers in this series are overall better than the batsmen and its showing.

Believe it or not there is a number of wickets in SA that are low slow turners, not to the extreme India produced, but a definite variety seen in the FC games. Not everything has the bounce/movement of Wanderers and Newlands.
Yes, SA has produced some poor pitches where the ball did just to much in terms of seam.... I`ve already commented (earlier in the thread) I rate those pitches as poorly as this pitch.

This pitch is definitely not rubbish. The spin and bounce have been quite consistent. And there is reverse on show. Difficult for batsmen from first day =/= bad pitch.

The problem with difficult spinning pitches on first day is that by day 3 they are near unplayable if they continue to break up which I will shocked if this one does not... if this was a day 3 pitch I would have no problems.

yeah nothing wrong with this pitch, it's the ones that offer nothing to anyone that we've seen in the UAE or recently in Australia that are the problem

I dislike these pitches as well, a pitch needs to change over time, it cant stay a batting paradise for 5 days.

One of the issues I have is that people keep comparing seaming wickets on the morning of the first test to dry spinning wickets on day one.... seam come from grass left on the wicket and moisture under the surface. Seaming surfaces normally calm down and become good for batting for a day or 2 before ideally breaking up day 4/5. A crumbling dusty wicket day one, is going to be almost impossible to bat on come day 3. Maybe I will be proved wrong and this wicket will flatten or stay consistent throughout the match but most likely it is just going to crumble into nothing in a day or two.... That is just a poor wicket IMO.

 

[Prince EWS]

PS: Yes, this is my waahh for the match, I won't mention the pitch again during this test...

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[StephenZA]

:

Sorry the conversation continued.... I will shut up now!

 

[OverratedSanity]

One of the issues I have is that people keep comparing seaming wickets on the morning of the first test to dry spinning wickets on day one.... seam come from grass left on the wicket and moisture under the surface. Seaming surfaces normally calm down and become good for batting for a day or 2 before ideally breaking up day 4/5.

Doesn't that just make the pitch one that makes the toss far too important though? Bowl opposition out in seaming conditions, bat on a flat pitch on day 2,3, bowl opposition out again when pitch crumbles.

 

[harsh.ag]

Doesn't that just make the pitch one that makes the toss far too important though? Bowl opposition out in seaming conditions, bat on a flat pitch on day 2,3, bowl opposition out again when pitch crumbles.

Tbf it's the most difficult then to bat in the last innings, so it kinda evens out.

 

[StephenZA]

Plumb!

 

[indiaholic]

 

[OverratedSanity]

Tbf it's the most difficult then to bat in the last innings, so it kinda evens out.

Nah, most often in those cases the match hals been decided in th first 3 days when you bowl the opposition ot cheap and pile on 450 when the pitch flattens out. Jut because they get tougher conditions later on doesn't mean the conditions have evened out because it usually doesn't even matter.

 

[StephenZA]

Doesn't that just make the pitch one that makes the toss far too important though? Bowl opposition out in seaming conditions, bat on a flat pitch on day 2,3, bowl opposition out again when pitch crumbles.

It normally last for a session while the ball is hard, hence the importance of technique for openers in those conditions. Then its good to bat. This is the risk you take if/when you bat first in those conditions, but if you bat 2nd then you better take wickets, or else a world of hurt.. it creates a difficult choice.... I will shut up now before PEWS gets upset with me

 

[Daemon]

These two are playing with really hard hands and way too much bat speed

 

[harsh.ag]

These two are playing with really hard hands and way too much bat speed

Yeah, they are very "modern" batsmen in that sense.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Such a good over from Rabada

 

[Daemon]

kumble's commentary is so boring. reminds me of strauss, though at least the latter called KP a **** on air.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

What a sight. Stump flying over

 

[dermo]

Morkel has been unbelievably good here

 

[Daemon]

Yeah, Rahane and Kohli really need to sort their driving out.

Morkel tho, WAFG

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Awesome bowling by Morkel

 

[OverratedSanity]

****e shot from rahane

 

[OverratedSanity]

Rohit gonna ton up imo