***Official*** South Africa in India

[Sanz]

Incase anyone missed :-

"...The hard work though had been done earlier, with Gautam Gambhir especially impressive against a fired-up pace attack. Words were exchanged with the habitually foul-mouthed Andre Nel, and Gambhir then shut up South Africa's bully boy in the best possible fashion, with an array of shots that pierced or went over the inner cordon. By the time Pathan joined in, slamming a glorious straight six, Nel's dubious vocabulary had been well and truly stuffed down his throat...."

 

[Jono]

LOL! I find Nel entertaining with his mouthing off, it adds a bit to the match but I'm happy Gambhir shut him up because Nel's figures were very poor.

 

[What-A-Player]

LOL! I find Nel entertaining with his mouthing off, it adds a bit to the match but I'm happy Gambhir shut him up because Nel's figures were very poor.

NEL can keep shouting, crying, making haloween faces..as long as he stays Andre NIL (figures)

But this Over-Agression is ridiculous and should be used timely, not like a jerk

 

[Jono]

Yeah he does overuse it and look stupid. When I first saw him I initially didn't like him. But after a while it was obvious he wasn't really a jerk, but rather just had fun. I still remember Nel v Pietersen in the ODI matches when Pietersen came back to South Africa and was booed. That was entertaining.

Its also entertaining watching him mouth off then get smashed around the park of course.

 

[SJS]

The decision to send Sehwag in the middle order is dumb....

Look at how he's been scratching....

Now that's weakened the middle-order....

He's never looked good in the middle-order, and still doesn't.

well...well....well....

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah he does overuse it and look stupid. When I first saw him I initially didn't like him. But after a while it was obvious he wasn't really a jerk, but rather just had fun. I still remember Nel v Pietersen in the ODI matches when Pietersen came back to South Africa and was booed. That was entertaining.

Its also entertaining watching him mouth off then get smashed around the park of course.

That is what seems to happen almost all the time. To be honest, I think he is lots of potential as a bowler and I think he is simply wasting himself by getting into these verbal duels etc. Plus, I am always happy to see such show ponies being put in their places.

BTW, why is Graeme Smith whining so much about the pitch? Didn't he win a big toss and get good assistance in the first hour in the first game? I haven't been listening or reading his interviews all that much but if this is the way he goes about stuff, I don't think RSA will be that strong in the years to come. He seems more inclined to think that had he won the toss, he would have won the match. Why exactly is that a guarantee and it seems to me that he is basically turning a blind eye on his team's shortcomings.

 

[SJS]

BTW, why is Graeme Smith whining so much about the pitch? Didn't he win a big toss and get good assistance in the first hour in the first game? I haven't been listening or reading his interviews all that much but if this is the way he goes about stuff, I don't think RSA will be that strong in the years to come. He seems more inclined to think that had he won the toss, he would have won the match. Why exactly is that a guarantee and it seems to me that he is basically turning a blind eye on his team's shortcomings.

You are dead right.

I have been a big fan of Smith and felt really let down by his comments to the media. I thought he was bigger than this.

 

[Jono]

Smith always whines. I still love watching him bat, but he's hardly a great personality.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Incase anyone missed :-

"...The hard work though had been done earlier, with Gautam Gambhir especially impressive against a fired-up pace attack. Words were exchanged with the habitually foul-mouthed Andre Nel, and Gambhir then shut up South Africa's bully boy in the best possible fashion, with an array of shots that pierced or went over the inner cordon. By the time Pathan joined in, slamming a glorious straight six, Nel's dubious vocabulary had been well and truly stuffed down his throat...."

Haha. Who wrote that? That's about the most biased match report I've ever seen.

 

[honestbharani]

Haha. Who wrote that? That's about the most biased match report I've ever seen.

It was true. I don't know why you should think it was biased. Nel was being a donkey out there and he was shut up by some good strokes (and one lucky one).

 

[Sudeep]

I was going through this thread, and there are two points that I'd like to make.

Sachin's tax exemption. I believe it was a gift. I'm not sure if there's an entirely huge technical difference between "gift" and "award", a tiny one maybe. But, I think Sachin asked for the exemption on the basis that other players have been allowed to do so, maybe on lesser expensive items. I wouldn't consider this to be a blot on his name, and his comparison wasn't entirely ridiculous. Sure, he could have paid the tax, he has enough money for that. But just because he asked for the exemption, doesn't make him a lesser being.

Another point is the whole Tendulkar - God thing. I'm not sure why people get peeved when he is called God, especially bringing the point that we don't call Rahul Dravid anything, despite his heroic efforts for the last 4-5 years. Well, we do have a word for him too, don't we? The Wall. Every time he rescues us, or defies a bowling attack, don't we say the opposition ran into The Wall? But everytime he gets out cheaply, we don't say that The Wall Crumbled. I'm sure if Dravid was seriously injured, and missed a lot of matches, people would say The Wall is Standing Again when he came back.

 

[Sudeep]

The fact is, hero worship is and will ever be prevalent.

Sanz, if you believe that Sachin is hogging the limelight, you should come to India and sit in front of the TV watching Aaj Tak and other news channels, for you will get to hear a lot more about Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid.

 

[Pratters]

Smith always whines. I still love watching him bat, but he's hardly a great personality.

And I would have said the same thing had you not posted earlier.

 

[Shastri Hai Hai]

Smith's double standards

I had the utmost respect for Smith before the start of the series, but was apalled by his double standards on the pitch. A day before the match, he said that the team was not affected by things such as pitch,toss, etc. http://http://sify.com/sports/columns/fullstory.php?id=14014841

After the defeat at Bangalore he is singing a different tune
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indvrsa/content/story/226491.html

Hmmm.. he still has a long way to go, this boy of 23!

 

[Pratters]

Why are you disgusted with R.Shastri?

 

[Shastri Hai Hai]

Oh, Shastri was my favourite, it's just that I loved the booing of the crowd towards the end of his career...when he did slow down a lot!

 

[marc71178]

The decision to send Sehwag in the middle order is dumb. Look at how he's been scratching. He's an attacking batsman, who's been at his best in the early overs, against the openign bowlers.

In which case he should be dropped then as there's other openers doing better than him in the last year or so.

Sehwag is an opener, and he shouls stay one. He's never looked good in the middle-order, and still doesn't.

Even when he started his career as a middle order batsman?

 

[marc71178]

I dont think it would make a big difference to the way Sehwag bats whether he bats top of the order or in the middle order.

To be honest there's a fair difference between facing the new ball during the (shudder) power plays then an older one with the field out.

 

[marc71178]

It can be a co-incidence..even though SA were unbeaten for 20 ODIs, they had won only 17, 1 was tied and 2 were no result.

Thank God they didn't take the record, seeing as the majority of those games were against a poor England, Zimbabwe and the Windies.

 

[Pratters]

To be honest there's a fair difference between facing the new ball during the (shudder) power plays then an older one with the field out.

Yes but would it be the reason for him performing poorly opening at the moment? I dont think so. It has more to do with playing too many shots - a bit more than necessary maybe. Certainly its very weird how he keeps making runs in tests but having a poor run in one dayers.