***Official*** India in South Africa 2017/18

[Pratters]

Hello Turb Man

 

[anaksr]

Iam suprised about people suggesting to drop Bumrah. Comon agreed that he was sh** in first innings but he recovered and was fine in 2nd innings. Guys tend to forget that it's our batting which could not recover and all three fast bowlers were fine. I heard that pitch in Centurion will be bouncy. We only have Bumrah as a genuine fast bowler who crosses 140 on most occasions. Dropping him on that pitch would be a real blunder.

And whom we are replacing with. Ishanth- no one knows whether he will perform. Umesh - was out of touch. No guarantees. So why on earth take a risk when we have a bowler who showed promised.
PS: That ball to faf was peach of a delivery.

 

[Arachnodouche]

^Agreed. I didn't think Bumrah is much of a Test bowler to begin with, but it was only his first Test and he did go well in the second innings.

The bowling is not the issue here. As long as conditions offer help and our bowlers aren't on the park for more than 90 overs, we have a decent chance of outbowling South Africa.

Shastri's already plumped for Dhawan so that's a moot debate. Rahane for Rohit, is that really going to make much difference considering just how patchy he's looked this past year?

 

[CricAddict]

Cricinfo suggests Pujara might be under pressure to be replaced by Rahane since he did not show intent.

 

[jimmy101]

I actually though Pujara batted well in the first innings. He definately came in at a time when all four Protea quickies were full of vim.

 

[Shri]

Should bring back Gambhir. He’s a fighter. Can see him holding out in these conditions, providing that much needed spark.

Fantastic return post.

 

[Motorwada]

Do you not think India look in need of additional batting strength? Or do you think they should just pack the bowling and hope they out bowl South Africa?

Batting strength can also be increased by replacing with superior batsmen than adding an extra batsman.

 

[vcs]

Cricinfo suggests Pujara might be under pressure to be replaced by Rahane since he did not show intent.

FFS! That would be the most infuriating thing ever. Hope it's nonsense.

 

[Shri]

Intent? Intent to poke outside off? **** me, I love Kohli the batsman but he can gagf'd as a captain. Sooner we get Rahane as cap, the better.

 

[OverratedSanity]

**** it, go all out with the stupiditity. Drop Pujara, retain Rohit and Dhawan, bring in Parthiv for Saha, Binny for Bhuvi and Gambhir for Vijay. Idgaf anymore.

 

[StephenZA]

**** it, go all out with the stupiditity. Drop Pujara, retain Rohit and Dhawan, bring in Parthiv for Saha, Binny for Bhuvi and Gambhir for Vijay. Idgaf anymore.

And the icing on the cake... they actually win, keeping the team together for the rest of all the away series.

 

[harsh.ag]

I genuinely don't give a ****.

Do whatever you want, Kohstri.

 

[Woodster]

The idea of dropping Pujara, the batsman that probably looked the most comfortable in the difficult batting conditions, is absolutely ridiculous and I can't believe India would be seriously considering it.

 

[Shri]

Fire Shastri as coach, get Dravid in. Fire Kohli as captain and get Rahane in. What a bunch of idiots.

 

[Gavaskar]

I think we need to atleast wait until they lose the series before we judge kohli. Yes it was a mistake for kohli to play dhawan and rohit, but it wasnt kohli that told rahane to be in poor form at home , and it wasnt kohli that told bcci to organize a home series vs lanka which allowed dhawan the opportunity to outscore lokesh.

One thing im glad kohli did is that he picked pandya rather than looking at pitch and going with an extra batsman.

 

[Groundking]

Dropping Pujara and not Rohit for Rahane would be the kind of brain dead idiocy you can expect from the Indian selectors, so I think it's pretty likely. India will win nothing if they do so though.

 

[weldone]

Should bring back Gambhir. He’s a fighter. Can see him holding out in these conditions, providing that much needed spark.

Haha remember how that worked in England 2014?

 

[anaksr]

Not need for a knee jerk reaction. Its not something new. Indian team mostly loses their 1st match then they recover.
One thing looks for sure that sword will fall on Dhawans head and Iam super fine with it.

Get Rahul in for Dhawan.
Rahane for Rohit.
We can always bring back Rohit in 3rd match if Rahane fails. Its not end of the road for Rohit.
3 fasts 1 spinner plus part time boy Hardik is the way to go.
Yes Saha was horrible with bat but I don't think Parthiv will bring something special to table. May be a 30-40 at max. That's it and high risk of dropping catches.
Maybe we can try him in last test if Saha continues like this.

 

[OverratedSanity]

One thing looks for sure that sword will fall on Dhawans head and Iam super fine with it.

Shastri has backed him and said he's a "must", so I doubt he'll be dropped.

I don't mind his selection that much. Sub-optimal choice but not terrible.

 

[anaksr]

Shastri has backed him and said he's a "must", so I doubt he'll be dropped.

I don't mind his selection that much. Sub-optimal choice but not terrible.

Do you believe that Shastris words are counted. There was reason he was selected and he will fully do justice to his role. Mute spectator.

Both Vijay and Dhawan scored cheaply but I guess it's the way Dhawan got out in both innings marks him down and he seems to have genuine issues with short balls and Saffers will eat him.

Also dropping Chepu will be last worst thing they can do. Virat seems to only hint that Chepu needs to improve his scoring rate and not just block. This attack is relentless and you can expect pressure throughout the match. Best thing for Chepu would be to score on loose blocks and not auto mode.