***Official*** India in South Africa

[R_D]

The way Dhoni is playing out there.. looks like the message in clear, try and get many runs quickly as possible... no point hanging around in this pitch... you might be done by a beautiful ball anytime so better to play shots and score as many as you can.

 

[Dravid]

What're you talking about? I said they bowled fantastically. When Dhoni goes into his trademark dumbass mode, I'm going to call him on it (he hasn't yet thankfully).

Well if you really did support them, you wouldn't be like well there goes Sreesanth to his old self and giving it away when he got a wicket 23 runs ago. India are in a match winning position but you are like this total isn't safe, when it is. Sreesanth picks up 5 for and you are like I won't say anything good about him unless India have a W next to them. You hardly ever seem to be on the positive side of India.

 

[silentstriker]

The way Dhoni is playing out there.. looks like the message in clear, try and get many runs quickly as possible... no point hanging around in this pitch... you might be done by a beautiful ball anytime so better to play shots and score as many as you can.

Yup, though its hard to discern if thats just what he wants to do or if he's been told to do it.

But I would agree with the sentiment of playing your shots. You shouldn't be reckless but no point in going defensive. The lead is at 300, and just play your shots and get as much as you can.

 

[silentstriker]

Well if you really did support them, you wouldn't be like well there goes Sreesanth to his old self and giving it away when he got a wicket 23 runs ago. India are in a match winning position but you are like this total isn't safe, when it is.

It'll be safe when SA are bowled out in the 2nd innings.

Sreesanth picks up 5 for and you are like I won't say anything good about him unless India have a W next to them. You hardly ever seem to be on the positive side of India.

For the 15th time, I already said they bowled great. But the fans have to realize that the match is not over. He has to bowl well in the second innings and turn in something which Indian bowlers (outside of Kumble) rarely do - turn in a consistent complete performance. To be frank, they wildly exceeded my expectations in the first innings by doing just that. Consistent, working in partnerships, attacking from all sides, and giving very little away.

But thats just 1/2 of the equation.

 

[nightprowler10]

na it was definately Ravi Shashtri.. did Gavaskar even hit 6 sixes in his career ?
not sure i'm gona check on that.

No you're right. It didn't sound right in my head either that Gavaskar could do that. It was Shastri.

 

[nightprowler10]

Just because SS is a cynical bastard doesn't mean he isn't an Indian fan. I am a bit like that too with the Pakistani team, tbh.

 

[silentstriker]

Well a great day for India ends. The best day so far on this tour. Tomorrow, look to score at about four an over, and maybe get the lead up to 350 to 400, which if not completely safe, should be very defensible.

 

[R_D]

Just because SS is a cynical bastard doesn't mean he isn't an Indian fan. I am a bit like that too with the Pakistani team, tbh.

As indian fans we aren't used to people like SS, we are more used to seeing people talking up the indian team for no apparent reason..
ie. Turbinator ?

 

[Turbinator]

^ But hey most of what I say turns out to be right. Before the ODI series, I said they were gonna be destroyed... 20/20 I said they will win... Test series I went out of the way and said they will pull off a victory because I believe in them!

 

[adharcric]

Well a great day for India ends. The best day so far on this tour. Tomorrow, look to score at about four an over, and maybe get the lead up to 350 to 400, which if not completely safe, should be very defensible.

Do they really need to accelerate though? Assuming we bat sensibly, we should be around 400 at lunch tomorrow. Some may say that's enough, but if we still have wickets in hand I'd continue towards tea. You can get a ridiculous lead and still have two days and a session to bowl them out. That's 200 overs roughly.

 

[Turbinator]

Also, don't forget I said Dhoni will bat well this time and support Laxman...

 

[adharcric]

^ But hey most of what I say turns out to be right. Before the ODI series, I said they were gonna be destroyed... 20/20 I said they will win... Test series I went out of the way and said they will pull off a victory because I believe in them!

Dude, you said "I have this crazy feeling that India's going to win this one somehow" before every ODI pretty much. All that after you said it's alright if they get killed because they got killed before the last WC in New Zealand as well. You also bitched about them regularly throughout the ODI series. Either you become a pessimistic bastard like SS, an optimistic ass like me or the typical Indian fan who really doesn't have a clue (ie cricbuzz). Show some consistency. The choice is yours.

 

[silentstriker]

Do they really need to accelerate though? Assuming we bat sensibly, we should be around 400 at lunch tomorrow. Some may say that's enough, but if we still have wickets in hand I'd continue towards tea. You can get a ridiculous lead and still have two days and a session to bowl them out. That's 200 overs roughly.

Accelerate because I am not sure if you're ever set on this pitch, not because of the time issue. So my feeling as get as much as you can. Now if tomorrow the pitch looks like its better for batting, then you want to stay on as long as possible.

 

[Turbinator]

Dude, you said "I have this crazy feeling that India's going to win this one somehow" before every ODI pretty much. All that after you said it's alright if they get killed because they got killed before the last WC in New Zealand as well. You also bitched about them regularly throughout the ODI series. Either you become a pessimistic bastard like SS, an optimistic ass like me or the typical Indian fan who really doesn't have a clue (ie cricbuzz). Show some consistency. The choice is yours.

Yoh dude, before each of the ODI matches I never said they were gonna win!!! You're mistakening my comments for the ones I made during the CT, when I did say before the matches that they're gonna win. However, I did say before the SA ODI series that we were gonna lose badly. 20/20 I said we were gonna win! And Test Series I said we were gonna win too!

And about the "it's alright if they get killed because they got killed before the last WC in New Zealand as well", that was just justification for the ODI losses.

EDIT: And even if I might've said once or twice right before the ODI matches that India were gonna win, it was my heart that was speaking out... but my mind thought otherwise!

Basically I am an optimistic fan, but I tend to show this optimism at the right times!

 

[silentstriker]

I do hope that the pitch doesn't become better for batting. Hopefully there are some cracks that would open up later tomorrow and on the 4th day for Kumble to exploit.

 

[adharcric]

Yoh dude, before each of the ODI matches I never said they were gonna win!!! You're mistakening my comments for the ones I made during the CT, when I did say before the matches that they're gonna win. However, I did say before the SA ODI series that we were gonna lose badly. 20/20 I said we were gonna win! And Test Series I said we were gonna win too!

And about the "it's alright if they get killed because they got killed before the last WC in New Zealand as well", that was just justification for the ODI losses.

Ehh whatever, not gonna bother investigating your behavior as an Indian fan on CW. Have fun.

 

[Turbinator]

Ehh whatever, not gonna bother investigating your behavior as an Indian fan on CW. Have fun.

Yeah whatever, who cares, all that matters is India is on top and I am among the happiest people on Earth atm.

 

[adharcric]

Accelerate because I am not sure if you're ever set on this pitch, not because of the time issue. So my feeling as get as much as you can. Now if tomorrow the pitch looks like its better for batting, then you want to stay on as long as possible.

The way Laxman and Dhoni are batting right now, they're avoiding excessive risks and still scoring at 3.5 an over.
That alone will give us an additional 100 runs by lunch, assuming they aren't stupid. Anyways, let's just see what happens tomorrow.

8:30 am .. I should get some sleep.

 

[Dravid]

I do hope that the pitch doesn't become better for batting. Hopefully there are some cracks that would open up later tomorrow and on the 4th day for Kumble to exploit.

No it's not, I believe it's getting worse.

 

[Dravid]

The way Laxman and Dhoni are batting right now, they're avoiding excessive risks and still scoring at 3.5 an over.
That alone will give us an additional 100 runs by lunch, assuming they aren't stupid. Anyways, let's just see what happens tomorrow.

8:30 am .. I should get some sleep.

Me too. Got to wake up at 3 am, which will be in 5 hrs, but theres a religious event going around my place(you know those jagrhans and chawkys) and I'm probably going to end up going there in another 10 mins. Oh well guess no Nz v Sri Lanka tonight.