***Official*** India in South Africa

[adharcric]

SS and Dravid, what the hell guys? I wanted to talk cricket right after the match but there was a span of 20 minutes when I was the only one in here so I just went to sleep.
Now I see that you idiots came back and started talking ... at least I got good sleep after a test match for the first time. Just woke up at 3 pm for the third consecutive day.

 

[silentstriker]

SS and Dravid, what the hell guys? I wanted to talk cricket right after the match but there was a span of 20 minutes when I was the only one in here so I just went to sleep.
Now I see that you idiots came back and started talking ... at least I got good sleep after a test match for the first time. Just woke up at 3 pm for the third consecutive day.

Unfortunately, I do need several 20 minute breaks throughout the day for personal hygiene purposes. I'm good to go for the other 23 hours though.

 

[adharcric]

Dont know whats more annoying, South Africa's capitulation or this utter tool Sreesanth.. Nel might be annoying but that's because he's stupid, I'm not sure what this guy has in his defence, unless he was dropped as a child or something..

I was looking forward to Pietersen and Muralitharan retiring so I could enjoy watching cricket without properly disliking anyone in the game, guess I'll have to wait longer..

Well played India anyway, SA need to buck their ideas up

Perhaps it's annoying because the "utter tool" manhandled your entire side. Say what you want but I loved what he did on the field. If you're going to play a match without getting passionate about it, you might as well quit and go meditate or something. Everyone has their own way of showing passion ... Dravid or Tendulkar wouldn't do something like this for example. I'm glad we have someone in the side who can dish out what he gets from a "utter tool" in the opposition (Nel, who I also enjoy watching). Nel also looks pretty gay to me, but I admire his passion and ferocity on the field.

Sreesanth got in trouble with the match referee and he needs to make sure he doesn't get out of hand, but as long as it doesn't affect his performance it's all good.
He simply needs to stay within the limits, which he did today. No complaints. Sreesanth is a gem.

 

[Perm]

Good win for India, well deserved.

 

[marc71178]

oh so it's a 3 match series. Wish NZ and Sri Lankan fans had been given the same.

Can only blame your own board for that.

 

[Anil]

exceeded my wildest expectations!!! hopefully we will hold on to this intensity throughout the series....

 

[Jono]

You don't have to resize it, put in the URL or upload it and the server does it automatically.

Never knew that. Cheers for that.

Prince Sourav is now in my avatar for a while.

Btw, say what you want about Sreesanth's attitude, and I can sort of understand where Langeveldt is coming from (however I personally love the way he plays, and also the way Nel plays as well) but you gotta respect this:

The thing that makes that great is he had Prince out before Prince even got to 50, yet he still shook his hand.

 

[Perm]

Great show of sportsmanship from Sreesanth there, not often you see it anymore. Prince played very well and thoroughly deserved his century, unfortunately when he came down the track to Kumble he ended up yorking himself.

 

[vic_orthdox]

That was just f***** wrong sorry to all about that I think I'm going to be sick i had no f****** clue that that was there it's not my computer I'm using sorry to all about that Yuck

Mate, the filter is there for a reason. Please don't avoid it in the future.

 

[Dravid]

Great show of sportsmanship from Sreesanth there, not often you see it anymore. Prince played very well and thoroughly deserved his century, unfortunately when he came down the track to Kumble he ended up yorking himself.

Yup, whatever Sreesanth does when he's bowling or batting, he is a really nice kid and you can tell from that and his interviews if you saw any.

 

[honestbharani]

I don't know what he was doing when he was batting, absolute clown, and thats surely something that Nel would never do..

Nel is the worst in the world. Sreesanth is next but at least he has the excuse of being new to international cricket. Nel has been the idiot of world cricket for 5 years + now.

 

[honestbharani]

So he's already won the argument by replying and hitting Nel for six.. All the histrionics and acting like a baby is still totally un-necessary because he's won the contest..

I guess the days of players using a ball and a bat (and occasionally words) to settle an argument are gone.. We need this guy running around swinging a bat like a headless chicken.. I'd have been impressed if he hit Nel for six and gave him a cold stare, but no

yet you don't feel the same about Nel.

 

[adharcric]

South Africa definitely need to make changes to their lineup. Gibbs shouldn't be opening and Steyn should be dropped if he isn't 100% fit.

De Villiers, Smith, Kallis, Gibbs, Amla, Prince, Boucher, Pollock, Morkel, Nel, Ntini

What do you guys think?

 

[honestbharani]

De Villiers is one of the most talented youngsters in world cricket at the moment, IMHO. He could probably be the key player for them at Durban.

That side looks good, adharcric. Unless, they want to take out Gibbs and bring in someone else. Amla hasn't been setting the world on fire either. That's two positions that are suspect. Kallis at 4 and Prince at 5 bring in a lot of solidity to their batting order. But they need one of the attacking trio of Gibbs, Smith and De Villiers to fire if they want to win games, I think.

 

[Jono]

They'll keep Amla because they're playing at his home ground in the 2nd test, and presumably he'd be well used to the conditions there. I wouldn't have him at 3 though. Here's my SA team:

Smith
De Villers
Kallis
Prince
Amla
Gibbs
Boucher
Pollock
Morkel/Spinner
Nel
Ntini

Gibbs gets one final chance, because I reckon even in his current state, he's a better test batsmen then Rudolph. Kallis should play at 3. This desire of his to bat at 4 should be discarded, at least for a while, so he can do the best thing for his team.

 

[adharcric]

I also get the feeling that de Villiers will have a big role to play in Durban. They should probably give Amla another chance since he's averaged 35 or so in 2006 (again, not setting the world on fire but not too poor). As for Gibbs, they should give him this series but he obviously isn't the right man to open for South Africa.

 

[Jono]

Amazing his downfall considering how good a partnership he had with Kirsten at the top of the innings back in the day.

 

[oz_fan]

They'll keep Amla because they're playing at his home ground in the 2nd test, and presumably he'd be well used to the conditions there. I wouldn't have him at 3 though. Here's my SA team:

Smith
De Villers
Kallis
Prince
Amla
Gibbs
Boucher
Pollock
Morkel/Spinner
Nel
Ntini

Gibbs gets one final chance, because I reckon even in his current state, he's a better test batsmen then Rudolph. Kallis should play at 3. This desire of his to bat at 4 should be discarded, at least for a while, so he can do the best thing for his team.

Yeah that's the team I think SA should go with as well. Gibbs can't be let anywhere near the new ball with the form he is in, Kallis needs to be at three to provide solidarity to the top order should an early wicket fall and Prince should make a good number 4. I'd probably go with Morkel over a spinner.

 

[adharcric]

Definitely Morkel over the spinner. Morkel troubled the Indian top-order in Potchefstroom so he has an advantage in that regard. I am keen to see Tshabalala in action though.

 

[TT Boy]

Harris or a spinner will definitely feature at Newlands though maybe not Durban. South Africa media also reporting that Gibbs and Smith could be forced down the order for the next match, with AB, Rudolph or Hall inline to open. If Hall does open then it means South Africa can opt for Harris with Ntini, Pollock, Nel, Kallis, Hall providing the seam support. Would like to see Morkel play however, he supposedly has genuine pace, not 140but 145+ plus quick and his pretty tall. As you say caused India problems in the warm up game but lets not forget a fit Dale Steyn did the same just a month ago.

If those reports are correct team could look something like this...

AB
Hall/Rudolph
Kallis
Prince
Smith
Gibbs/Amla
Boucher
Pollock
Steyn/Morkel/Harris
Nel
Ntini