***Official*** India in South Africa

[silentstriker]

Agreed. He can have a chat with Wasim Akram if he wants to, but in the end it will come down to the hard work that Pathan puts in, be it in the nets or playing for Baroda.

He lives (lived) right near me in Baroda, and in fact I remember playing against him and his brother when we were kids (like 6-7 years old), some tennis ball cricket. Maybe I should go back and heckle him.

 

[silentstriker]

I think back then, they bowled faster.

Ok, maybe not, I don't remember that much..but both of them were clearly better than anyone else on the field even at that age.

 

[silentstriker]

Well, I wish I was back 15 years ago, that way I could sledge him for being such a rubbish bowler. Of course, in reality, I'd try to become his best friend as he has $$ in his future.

 

[Turbinator]

Are you guys serious! SS you played with Pathan and his brother?

Wow, you should've stayed back maybe you could've turned out to be a great Indian fast bowler...

 

[Turbinator]

I am so excited, can't wait for the game to start... I want these Indians to completely destroy these Saffies! Like annihiliate them completely is what I want. Murk them not only cricket wise but also physically. I want Sreesanth to bowl fast ass bouncers at Smith and get him hurt. I want them to Remember the Indians (got that from Remember the Titans).

But as much as I want this to happen, I know it's not possible. Damnit!

 

[silentstriker]

Are you guys serious! SS you played with Pathan and his brother?

Wow, you should've stayed back maybe you could've turned out to be a great Indian fast bowler...

Yea, I did. Not that many times, we were on different teams and we rarely played against the muslim teams. But they were really good even then. But then again, that was between the ages of six-ten.

And I don't really remember Irfan bowling, though I do remember his brother bowling. But this was with a tennis ball, for 11 rupees to the winning team type of match, on a ground that was a weird square shape.

 

[Turbinator]

Yea, I did. Not that many times, we were on different teams and we rarely played against the muslim teams. But they were really good even then. But then again, that was between the ages of six-ten.

And I don't really remember Irfan bowling, though I do remember his brother bowling. But this was with a tennis ball, for 11 rupees to the winning team, type of match, on a ground that was a weird square shape.

Oh I see, that's very cool though... Why didn't you ever brag about this?

 

[silentstriker]

Oh I see, that's very cool though... Why didn't you ever brag about this?

Because it's Irfan Pathan.

 

[Turbinator]

Because it's Irfan Pathan.

I was referring to his brother .

 

[adharcric]

Along with Powar, these two have really dominated the domestic scene in the last three seasons. Let's take a look ...

Joginder Sharma ~ 18 matches, 90 wickets @ 19.32 (4 matches, 31 wickets @ 11.67 this season)
Gagandeep Singh ~ 21 matches, 92 wickets @ 19.58

 

[Turbinator]

Along with Powar, these two have really dominated the domestic scene in the last three seasons. Let's take a look ...

Joginder Sharma ~ 18 matches, 90 wickets @ 19.32 (4 matches, 31 wickets @ 11.67 this season)
Gagandeep Singh ~ 21 matches, 92 wickets @ 19.58

With Joginder Sharma and Rohit Sharma playing for India in a little while and another Sharma (me) coming in, in about 3-4 years time... Expect the Indian lineup to be filled with Sharmas.

 

[adharcric]

Oh I see, that's very cool though... Why didn't you ever brag about this?

SS was obviously IKP's bunny. That's probably why he left India and probably why he never brags about playing with IKP in his childhood.

 

[Turbinator]

SS was obviously IKP's bunny. That's probably why he left India and probably why he never brags about playing with IKP in his childhood.

Probably Pathan and his buddies never let SS bowl and regularly bowled bouncers at him and now SS is keen on taking revenge on Pathan and the rest of the Indian pacers through CW. No one looks very comfortable with the type of pace AND action he produces.

 

[Jono]

IMO India should bat first again.

By batting first in the first game, Dravid showed to the SA team and his own team that he had confidence in their batting line-up. Do it again, get the runs on the board, that always counts on a bowler friendly track.

 

[adharcric]

Agreed. Let's see if we win the toss today.

 

[shankar]

Hope we don't surrender the advantage like we usually do after winning a test abroad.

 

[adharcric]

BREAKING NEWS: Jacques Kallis will miss the test with a knee injury. Huge blow for South Africa.

 

[adharcric]

Smith wins the toss and elects to bat. VRV Singh retained as Munaf is still not fully fit. Hall and Morkel in for Kallis and Steyn.

That's one hell of a pace attack for the Proteas. Ntini-Pollock-Nel-Morkel-Hall.

 

[adharcric]

Poor start by Zaheer and Sreesanth. Pretty obvious they haven't bowled in a while.

 

[Prince EWS]

Rudolph would have been a much better option than Hall IMO. Especially if Hall is going to bat down the order as he is.. if they wanted Hall to open I could see some merit in it as it would still give depth to the batting, but they already have four fast bowlers so I don't really see why Hall was picked to replace Kallis. Rudolph and Smith as variation would probably offer just as much as Hall in terms of bowling as he doesn't offer anything that Pollock and Nel do not. And Rudolph is clearly a better batsman.