**Official** South Africa in India Thread

[masterblaster]

It is exactly this idle idol worship that is the bane of Indian cricket. When someone has become one of the richest men in India playing cricket - primarily, I might remind you through the support of the public - is it too harsh to expect him to perform ?

Where the hell did money come into all of this?

If you haven't noticed Tooly Sachin isn't a robot, and this is the first time he's encountered a form slump.

I'm still baffled why you keep bringing his money and restaurant's into the equation. They have absolutely nothing to do with his current form slump.

Plus if he can score 241*, 60* and 194* in the middle of a form slump, then that just proves that he's a champion.

Still, I'm baffled to see where Sachin's money came into this. It doesn't deserve to be mentioned in 'Cricket Chat'.

 

[masterblaster]

Does that mean the rest of the team is hopeless or is Sachin over-rated and over-adulated ?

A mixture of both. Don't expect earth shattering things from a mere mortal who is just doing his job, playing cricket for his country.

Also, a lot of the times, he hasn't gotten any support from any of the other players when Sachin has been on fire.

Sometimes he's delivered (Sharjah 1998 against Australia), other times he hasn't, but the team has let him down a lot of the time.

It's a combination of both. The Indian's aren't the most consistent lot, but Sachin certainly personifies consistency throughout the last decade.

 

[JustTool]

Where the hell did money come into all of this?

If you haven't noticed Tooly Sachin isn't a robot, and this is the first time he's encountered a form slump.

I'm still baffled why you keep bringing his money and restaurant's into the equation. They have absolutely nothing to do with his current form slump.

Plus if he can score 241*, 60* and 194* in the middle of a form slump, then that just proves that he's a champion.

Still, I'm baffled to see where Sachin's money came into this. It doesn't deserve to be mentioned in 'Cricket Chat'.

If you don't think Cricket in India is all about money now then you are deluding yourself. Look at the all the shenanigans in the BCCI and Ganguly's support for Dalmiya and vice-versa - all about money and power. Cricket in India is all about money and power and Tendulkar and Ganguly clearly lead that pack. You think his restaurant is famous because he is a good cook ?

 

[JustTool]

JustTool, Robin Jackman and Mike Haysman are FAR from biased commentators. In fact it was either Jackman or Haysman that pointed out that though Daryl Harper's decisions have hurt South Africa (as Slater was saying), Kallis' decision yesterday was obviously in South Africa's favour rather than India's.

Big congratulations for Anil Kumble, equalling Kapil Dev's record as leading test wicket taker for India.

Sorry if that's what was read in my post. I agree with you 100%, these guys are NOT BIASED - in fact, I like Slater too. (Now Manjrekar and Siva are a different proposition). No, what I was pointing out was that it's unfair to be overly crticial of Indians appealing too much - the same commentators (in general) never complain when Ausies et al sledge.

 

[JustTool]

A mixture of both. Don't expect earth shattering things from a mere mortal who is just doing his job, playing cricket for his country.

Also, a lot of the times, he hasn't gotten any support from any of the other players when Sachin has been on fire.

Sometimes he's delivered (Sharjah 1998 against Australia), other times he hasn't, but the team has let him down a lot of the time.

It's a combination of both. The Indian's aren't the most consistent lot, but Sachin certainly personifies consistency throughout the last decade.

See, the best you could come up with is 1998 one day in Sharjah. Come on, you MUST agree that last 4-5 years he has not delivered. BUT, he has been very very busy cashing in - coincidence ? I am not questioning his skill but his mindset.

 

[Jono]

Agreed all round there mate. Haysman and Jackman are enjoyable commentators.

Congrats to Kumble though! What a champion he's been throughout the years, and like a fine wine, his bowling and cricket keeps getting better with age.

Yeah I absolutely like Haysman's and Jackman's commentary. I dare say the I enjoy the current Fox Sports commentary team for this South Africa tour of India better than the Channel 9 commentary team. Although Siv's constant use of the word 'very' in his stretched out tone does kind of get on my nerves

 

[Sehwag309]

CONGRTATS KUMBLE - if not a new thread for Congratulating him

 

[masterblaster]

If you don't think Cricket in India is all about money now then you are deluding yourself. Look at the all the shenanigans in the BCCI and Ganguly's support for Dalmiya and vice-versa - all about money and power. Cricket in India is all about money and power and Tendulkar and Ganguly clearly lead that pack. You think his restaurant is famous because he is a good cook ?

The BCCI maybe about money, but I think Tendulkar isn't about money. He's about much more than that.

He's a food enthusiast like many people are, and if he has the power to open up his restaurant then why not?

He's simply opened it up, he doesn't manage it, a Mumbai businessman by the name of Sanjay Narang does.

Now we're going off on a tangent. I still dont think money has anything to do with Sachin's form. We're not talking about sponsorships or the BCCI here.

 

[Jono]

Very nice Sehwag 309

 

[Jono]

I think Sachin has more than enough money to be worrying about that. His delight when he scored a ton in Sydney displayed to me a man under a pressure, and a man that wants to perform more than anything. More than money, more than a restaurant or whatever else anyone can think of.

 

[SJS]

CONGRTATS KUMBLE - if not a new thread for Congratulating him

Hi

I think I speak for everyone when I say you are doing a great job posting all these clips. keep it up.

I wish you posted some of the better shots too

 

[Sehwag309]

Hi

I think I speak for everyone when I say you are doing a great job posting all these clips. keep it up.

I wish you posted some of the better shots too

Sorry, can't post my website here

inningsdefeat@hotmail.com for the link

 

[marc71178]

And the Saffie commentators going on and on about Pollock's decision. Bad decision, no doubt. But where was the hue and cry when Kallis was given not-out. I think this is better than an even trade for SAF.

Ok, everyone can now descend on me....

I will just quote this hypocritical post for posterity.

 

[age_master]

nice win to india

 

[Arjun]

Radio commentary was entertaining, with the ads. Milind Tipnis and Prakash Waigankar repeatedly tried to do a Sidhu and sounded hilarious!

 

[masterblaster]

Top win to India, even though it was against a understrength South African side. The Proteas really craved a front line spinner, but they have an impressive part timer in Jacques Rudolph. He really could be something with some proper coaching and training.

Top marks to team India, Harbhajan, Kumble were simply brilliant. Ganguly's captaincy was very good throughout this match, and it was so refreshing to see Sachin play with somewhat a carefree nature (that six over long on was fantastic). Ah the good old memories of Sachin doing that to Warnie

Anyway top marks to India, South Africa fought hard, they just need to groom a specialist spinner, recall Mark Boucher (I'm still baffled) and I think they'll be a tougher outfit next time around.

 

[shaka]

its nice to see Tendulkar playing his strokes. Finished the game off in style

 

[SJS]

its nice to see Tendulkar playing his strokes. Finished the game off in style

Harbhajan's bowling in the second innings was a delight to watch and it was pleasant to see sachin getting to enjoy himself towards the end as was the more positive Indian spirits throughout the game. Apart from that, even for an ardent Indian fan, this was a pedestrian game of cricket as far as the game proper was comcerned..

 

[Slow Love™]

Good win to India. They just climbed to outright third in the ICC rankings, for the first time ever. I think the South Africans probably got punished again for some very negative cricket, as they did in Sri Lanka - they did have a somewhat weakened lineup though.

Ray Jennings will have the SAF players up for pushups and circuits of the oval at the crack of dawn, no doubt.

 

[DocHead]

Well, that's that then. India were massive favourites going in, and they won through in the 2nd half of the final day. Well done to them, but well done to SA as well.

Kallis did get a life, but then again, so did Sehwag. Umpiring mistakes may have swung India's way, but I don't think it made a massive difference. The way Harbhajan & Kumble were going, they would've got the wickets regardless, just a little later. SA were 100-150 runs short on the 1st innings, and that made the difference in the end. India chasing 225 or so on the last day would have been challenging.

Ontong actually looked decent, albeit on a wicket that was turning so much he must've been wondering if he was having a wet dream. Even a 20th day St. George's Park pitch won't do that, which just shows how anti-spinner SA pitches are, cos this wasn't the worst by any stretch. I wonder why Smith only decided to bowl himself so late in the series, Rudolf had an injury, so that was why he didn't bowl much. Another case of a captain not bowling himself enough. Smith and Rudolf are both servicable spinners, I think they need to work on it. Especially since the only other spinner apart from Peterson, Ontong & Boje is Imraan Khan, and he's not much better than Ontong, more of an opening bat.

All in all, not a bad tour, certainly not as hopeless as Sri Lanka. Boje will be back for the England series, Gibbs and Boucher will probably be in the picture again. I'm a bit iffy about Gibbs right now, he's not been in good form for a while even in the couple of 1st class games he's played. I think it'd be better for him to bat his way back into the side rather than the selectors just handing his place back as if he's the prodigal son or something.

Now on to those pesky English, word has it they've been uppity lately. Have to put that right.