**Official** South Africa in India Thread

[Mister Wright]

Now don't get me wrong, I wish the Indian selectors thought exactly like you and dropped Ganguly, Dravid & Tendulkar, but.....

Erm, Tendulkar, a guy with the 2nd most test centuries in the history of cricket, with an average of 50something in over a decade and a half of cricket.....and the words 'consistently don't produce'

Excuse my language, but, WTF???

And the way you (not you per say, some people in this place) go on about Dravid as well, average of 57, the guy who the team can actually count on to dig them out the massive holes their airy-flairy batting lineup sometimes gets them in, is pretty incredible.

These are world-class batsmen, probably among the best we've even seen. In every series except this one, I love just watching them bat. Dravid is the ICC player of the year for chrissakes!

But, obviously a run of poor form over a few months negates all they've done in the past, making them worthless moneygrubbing tossers who've outstayed their welcome.

Damn. I thought the cricketweb members had turned a corner and were going to ignore JustTool. ohwell.

 

[Jono]

Come on Laxman. Dig in and bat yourself in form.

 

[Richard]

Again, if they hit it harder than most batsmen, the fielder would find it hard to hold the catches . That is a plus for those batsmen, not a negative.

And that's a stereotype that actually has little base in fact - most dropped catches off Sehwag and Gilchrist are actually total sitters.
Even if they were to be coming a bit faster, it doesn't make them significantly more difficult to catch, for a top-class fielder.

 

[Richard]

Damn. I thought the cricketweb members had turned a corner and were going to ignore JustTool. ohwell.

Ah, don't blame him - he's inexperienced after all! *cliche*

 

[masterblaster]

Now don't get me wrong, I wish the Indian selectors thought exactly like you and dropped Ganguly, Dravid & Tendulkar, but.....

Erm, Tendulkar, a guy with the 2nd most test centuries in the history of cricket, with an average of 50something in over a decade and a half of cricket.....and the words 'consistently don't produce'

Excuse my language, but, WTF???

And the way you (not you per say, some people in this place) go on about Dravid as well, average of 57, the guy who the team can actually count on to dig them out the massive holes their airy-flairy batting lineup sometimes gets them in, is pretty incredible.

These are world-class batsmen, probably among the best we've even seen. In every series except this one, I love just watching them bat. Dravid is the ICC player of the year for chrissakes!

But, obviously a run of poor form over a few months negates all they've done in the past, making them worthless moneygrubbing tossers who've outstayed their welcome.

Well said mate. Toolyboy is forgetting all the glorious times Tendulkar has saved India's backside from defeat.

Or perhaps he was born after 1998 and when Tendulkar was in GOD LIKE form throughout 2000-2002, Toolyboy was just in his infant years.

It's pretty ridiculous of Toolyboy to say that Tendulkar is all about money, infact I'd be pretty damn p*ssed off if I were Sachin if someone (who has NO RIGHT to by the way) questioned my integrity like that.

You don't know Sachin personally you Tool, so you don't have any reason to be making these comments about him.

Do not question a champion's integrity, you will be made to look like a monkey in the near future.

Extremely P*ssed Off,

MB

 

[masterblaster]

Damn. I thought the cricketweb members had turned a corner and were going to ignore JustTool. ohwell.

Frankly I think everybody wishes he'd go away. The guy's views are clearly insane, and somewhat deluded.

'Oh, the whole world is against us, Bucknor has a personal vendetta against us, Sachin is always concerned with money'

Talk about a deluded mindset and an active imagination. His username suits him though.....that's all I'll say!

 

[Deja moo]

And that's a stereotype that actually has little base in fact - most dropped catches off Sehwag and Gilchrist are actually total sitters.

Could it just not be that these guys score at such a fast clip that the fielders are rattled and lose concentration ?

I hardly see how that can be held against the batsman .

Even if they were to be coming a bit faster, it doesn't make them significantly more difficult to catch, for a top-class fielder.

That means that either the fielders arent top class , or maybe the ball really does travel fast when they hit it.

Not the batsmans problem.

 

[Richard]

Could it just not be that these guys score at such a fast clip that the fielders are rattled and lose concentration ?

I hardly see how that can be held against the batsman .

That means that either the fielders arent top class , or maybe the ball really does travel fast when they hit it.

Not the batsmans problem.

How is the batsman to be absolved of hitting the ball to a fielder, an action that, under normal circumstances, will result in dismissal?
No, the fielder dropping the ball isn't the batsman's fault, but whatever way you look at it, dropped catches happen far less often than they don't, so I fail to see how the batsman should gain any credit for it.
And as the batsman gains, not loses, it is credit, not fault, that is relevant.

 

[Richard]

Well said mate. Toolyboy is forgetting all the glorious times Tendulkar has saved India's backside from defeat.

Or perhaps he was born after 1998 and when Tendulkar was in GOD LIKE form throughout 2000-2002, Toolyboy was just in his infant years.

It's pretty ridiculous of Toolyboy to say that Tendulkar is all about money, infact I'd be pretty damn p*ssed off if I were Sachin if someone (who has NO RIGHT to by the way) questioned my integrity like that.

You don't know Sachin personally you Tool, so you don't have any reason to be making these comments about him.

Do not question a champion's integrity, you will be made to look like a monkey in the near future.

Extremely P*ssed Off,

MB

TBF Sangrah, JT isn't the only one I've seen accuse the stars of being more concerned about money than their performance.
Not saying I agree, certainly with regards Tendulkar (I think I know him well enough to say that he's more concerned with the welfare of Indian cricket than his personal financial gain - not like he needs worry about that anyway), but you get all this "let them do only ads, no need for them to play" stuff quite a bit - not like it's an isolated incident.
It's something that, possibly inevitably, goes with stardom. Beckham has been accused of it, of course - and certainly not without reason IMO.

 

[Deja moo]

How is the batsman to be absolved of hitting the ball to a fielder, an action that, under normal circumstances, will result in dismissal?
No, the fielder dropping the ball isn't the batsman's fault, but whatever way you look at it, dropped catches happen far less often than they don't, so I fail to see how the batsman should gain any credit for it.
And as the batsman gains, not loses, it is credit, not fault, that is relevant.

The key phrase is "under normal circumstances" . If the batsmen bat with such aggression that the fielders lose concentration under pressure, the batsman must get credit for it .The situation is of his creation , and he deserves the reward from it .

 

[Richard]

You see, I don't think that has any bearing. Mostly, a chance is a split-second thing, you don't have time to think or be under pressure.
It's just incompetance.

 

[Deja moo]

I disagree here .

Pressure can have a bearing on even those tasks which might be considered reflexive actions.

 

[Richard]

OK, can't say fairer than that!
We'll just have to say that we've reached the end of the discussion of the matter.
You think Sehwag deserves credit for his luck, I don't.
Best situation for all, then, would be Sehwag's luck dries-up.

 

[DocHead]

End of the day, India 50 in front. Not too bad, a good day for SA, but India's in charge of the test.

I don't think SA can win it from here, unless there's a hattrick in their future or something, so I'm not even going to consider it.

SA need to completely shut down India tomorrow, make them work hard for each and every run they eke out.

First prize would be if Smith & Hall can wipe out the deficit + 50, but whatever happens, we have to bat for 4 sessions. I think we've got the lineup to do it on paper, there's batting down to #10, but it's going to be tough.

 

[shankar]

How's the pitch behaving? Anything markedly different from day 1?

 

[EnglishRose]

Karthik and Pathan have batted very well -- they have given India the slight edge going into day 4. Their partnership would have have been very frustrating for South Africa,

If India can survive the morning session and add 70+ runs, they'll be in a very good position to win the game.
I think this pitch is offering something for the bowlers -- Ontong got a couple to turn and bounce sharply at Karthik and Kumble and Harbhajan would have noted that.
The South African pacers were getting some swing as well.

 

[EnglishRose]

ESA need to completely shut down India tomorrow, make them work hard for each and every run they eke out.

Although they'd be happy India didn't run away with the game -- Smith won a pretty crucial toss IMO and he wouldn't want this lead to cross the 100 mark.

When Laxman was dismissed, the Saffers must have thought they were in with a real chance of keeping the lead to about 50 in total.
BUt the two young lads have played very well.

If India bat sensibly tomorrow, they should end up with a pretty decent lead.

 

[honestbharani]

I think RSA did well. But having said that, I wonder how much help it would be for them to have been playing so defensively here in India when they have a big series against England coming up right after this one. I could understand them being defensive at Kanpur with all that inexperience, but after their good performance there, I expected them to be more positive here. I mean, atleast 3 or 4 catches went around the slips area. I wonder why Ntini did not have 2 or 3 slips when he was getting the ball to move away in reverse swing to many of the right handers. Not great captaincy, IMHO.

 

[Jono]

I thought South Africa were going to roll India when Laxman fell (to a wide half volley after looking very solid for so long). But Pathan stuck to it, and Karthik batted very well at the end of the day. South Africa must be extremely frustrated. I think it was a possibility that they could have bowled out India with a lead of less than 50 following Laxman's dismissal. Instead the lead is now over 50, with 4 wickets in hand and a stubborn Karthik and Pathan (surprise surprise) battling very well.

Also just like to add that Ganguly was batting very well (although admittedly he was dropped) until the bad LBW decision. I guess his luck turned on him. However these 40s, 50s and 60s he's making are very handy for the team, and if he can convert one or two of them into a 100 soon enough it'll be great.

 

[Richard]

Nice to see Karthik finally showing his ability. South Africa have bowled pretty reasonably (with the obvious exception of Ontong, who I don't really think anyone expected to bowl well ITFP) but India have the upper-hand. Be good to see Hall nicking a few wickets tomorrow morning and cutting through the tail.
Certainly SA can't afford another top-order collapse. Smith must give them a solid start.