*Official* India in South Africa

[Blaze 18]

Meh, not everything I say is as an Indian supporter. If the fielders can't see the ball its unfair, just like if the batsmen can't see the ball.

I don't mind it; precious little has gone our way thus far

 

[chicane]

Steyn being unable to bowl right now is a huge slice of luck for us.

 

[silentstriker]

Steyn being unable to bowl right now is a huge slice of luck for us.

Would have been better a few hours ago.

 

[Jono]

Can honestly say I'd rather India lose 3-0 than see Steyn injured. Just love watching him so much.

 

[vcs]

Can honestly say I'd rather India lose 3-0 than see Steyn injured. Just love watching him so much.

Yeah I'd draw the line at being glad for opposition injuries. Would take everything else though, including help from weather/rain/a couple of umpiring decisions etc.

 

[Black_Warrior]

This is just disappointing..I was really looking forward to see a great contest between bat and ball..Ok the conditions are difficult, but this is the best batting line up in the world..the top 5 are all averaging 50..They have to perform in difficult conditions..they should perform..if they dont..its just disappointing.

 

[shankar]

Bhajji's timing is so awesome.

It's freakish. I remember this ODI in India on a really slow pitch. Pretty much every batsmen struggled to time the ball that day - Bhajji came in and without any follow-through simply timed the first ball he faced for a boundary off a medium-pacer. It's tough to explain!

 

[M0rphin3]

awbta, without steyn it's gonna be pretty dire

 

[chicane]

Would have been better a few hours ago.

Obviously. Winning the toss would have been even better.

 

[chicane]

Looks like Steyn is ready to go again. Happy for him.

 

[Blaze 18]

This is just disappointing..I was really looking forward to see a great contest between bat and ball..Ok the conditions are difficult, but this is the best batting line up in the world..the top 5 are all averaging 50..They have to perform in difficult conditions..they should perform..if they dont..its just disappointing.

This. The worst part is that none of the batsmen got ridiculously good deliveries, aside from maybe Rahul Dravid; VVS could rightly claim that he was unlucky - that was a stunning catch from Tsotsotbe. But all the other batsmen, particularly Tendulkar and Sehwag, played abysmal shots.

 

[Contra]

Sehwag's wasn't a bad shot tbh. He should have used his feet a little more when playing the shot but it was still a legit shot. Steyn got big swing and Sehwag went for it and got the edge. Could have easily been 4 on another day.

 

[vcs]

Sehwag, Vijay and Dravid got terrific deliveries.. Laxman got out to a great catch. Sachin and Pujara played loose shots.. Sachin's dismissal was pretty similar to how Tsotsobe got Laxman at the Centurion.

 

[Blaze 18]

Considering how hard he worked to get his eye in, that was a poor, needless shot in my opinion.

 

[Blaze 18]

Is there any chance of play, or are we done for the day ?

 

[Manee]

I know you asked that a while ago, but it started raining and it is stumps.

 

[Blaze 18]

Well, like I said, it could have been much worse, but it would been so much better if India had lost four wickets instead of six. Hopefully these two can stick around for sometime tomorrow and take India as close to two hundred and fifty as possible. I suppose we are much better off than we were in the last game, but it would still take something special for India to win this.

 

[honestbharani]

Dhoni loses the toss again. No surprises there.

SA to have a bowl.

What are the odds of two sub-100 scores on the same day of test cricket in two countries?

Think 250-300 is par to above par on this track.. Gotta say Morkel and Kallis wasted the ball a bit.. And so did Tsotsobe, was lucky to pick up the wickets he did.


India looked good and seemed to have worked out the conditions but Arun Lol was right for once, this is a track where you are never completely "in".. Might as well go for it hard whenever the ball is in your areas.


And thought Pujara looked awesome.. I am as big a Dravid fan as anyone but really do feel the time has come for him to move on.. Pujara should be a permanent fix at 5.. And maybe Badri deserves another go. Pujara is showing all the A team runs he makes away from home means something. He looked more easy at the crease than even Sachin or Dravid for me, today..

 

[honestbharani]

This is the type of pitch due to which i wanted Praveen Kumar to be picked for this tour.

I wonder how much could he swing it in these conditions or even Irfan Pathan.

Though i think The bowlers who are playing this match would be effective here too. Hopefully the sun does not come out in the next few days.

PK should ALWAYS be our 3rd seamer.. It is a no-brainer really... Sometimes doing the hard grind domestically really does build you up well for international cricket.

 

[honestbharani]

Comms questioning Gambhir's injury. Shastri doesn't dispel the talk that he didn't want to play. I thought he had a broken finger. He would have played if fit, surely. Even I wouldn't say that about him, even though I think he's a douche.

It is the last thing a guy like him would do.. He is a bit of a Javed Miandad as far as that is concerned.. Maybe a tool but not a coward or anything..