*Official* South Africa in India

[social]

Still have my doubts that Dravid "is back"

He's scored runs on roads vs a SL attack comprised of a massively faded Murali + club bowlers and now has had his jaw fractured by a medium pacer

Love the guy but the jury is still out IMO

May not be the worst thing that India are being forced to blood a replacement

 

[Sir Alex]

Still have my doubts that Dravid "is back"

He's scored runs on roads vs a SL attack comprised of a massively faded Murali + club bowlers and now has had his jaw fractured by a medium pacer

Love the guy but the jury is still out IMO

May not be the worst thing that India are being forced to blood a replacement

I agree with you... he was completely off form for a major part during when India made rapid strides towards earnign the No.1 spot.

 

[silentstriker]

Still have my doubts that Dravid "is back"

He's scored runs on roads vs a SL attack comprised of a massively faded Murali + club bowlers and now has had his jaw fractured by a medium pacer

Love the guy but the jury is still out IMO

May not be the worst thing that India are being forced to blood a replacement

Yea, I definitely think Dravid only has about a year, maybe slightly more, left in his career, so it's not too early.

However, I'd rather start looking for a replacement for Yuvraj first. In an ideal scenario, India could stagger the replacements of Yuvraj (which will be an instant upgrade, so no need to worry), and then go for Dravid -> Laxman -> Tendulkar over the space of about two years. I think Tendulkar will play until WC 2011. Since India won't play too many Tests in WC year most likely, Laxman might use that chance to go out as well.

Now, that's all hopes, and as we see with other teams, it rarely works like that so India may just have to swallow a whole new middle order of four players within something like five-six months, but let's hope not.

In either case, I think it'd be interesting to see Vijay and someone else take the place of Dravid and Yuvraj, especially against a bowler like Steyn. We can quickly see where thry are at. But still, right now, I'd want Dravid. Hopefully, Vijay will get his chance to make that middle order spot his own against SA.

 

[silentstriker]

No Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar = bye bye #1 ranking.

Yea, if all three are out, and Yuvraj plays, we're losing 2-0.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Out of curiosity, would a 0-2 defeat to SA actually topple India from the top, or have England done a good enough job to scuttle SA's chances?

 

[social]

Yea, I definitely think Dravid only has about a year, maybe slightly more, left in his career, so it's not too early.

However, I'd rather start looking for a replacement for Yuvraj first. In an ideal scenario, India could stagger the replacements of Yuvraj (which will be an instant upgrade, so no need to worry), and then go for Dravid -> Laxman -> Tendulkar over the space of about two years. I think Tendulkar will play until WC 2011. Since India won't play too many Tests in WC year most likely, Laxman might use that chance to go out as well.

Now, that's all hopes, and as we see with other teams, it rarely works like that so India may just have to swallow a whole new middle order of four players within something like five-six months, but let's hope not.

In either case, I think it'd be interesting to see Vijay and someone else take the place of Dravid and Yuvraj, especially against a bowler like Steyn. We can quickly see where thry are at. But still, right now, I'd want Dravid. Hopefully, Vijay will get his chance to make that middle order spot his own against SA.

As I've said before, when I first saw Yuvi play in the CT many years ago, I thought that he was one of the most talented players that I'd ever seen

Unfortunately, he hasnt improved from a technical or mental standpoint at all (could actually be argued that he's regressed) and his fielding/fitness has gone to hell

Personally, I'd have struggled to ever pick him again after India's last tour to Oz where he moped about like the world owed him a living and appeared to mentally disintegrate in front of our eyes

However, I reckon he has friends in the right places (Tendy for one apparently) and dont believe that he'll be the first to go

 

[social]

Out of curiosity, would a 0-2 defeat to SA actually topple India from the top, or have England done a good enough job to scuttle SA's chances?

Not that I think they're the best but if Oz had beaten WI 3-0, we'd already be there and a victory over NZ (accompanied by a draw/loss by India to SA) makes it a lock

The rankings obviously give plenty of weight to the times when we were any good

 

[G.I.Joe]

Personally, I'd have struggled to ever pick him again after India's last tour to Oz where he moped about like the world owed him a living and appeared to mentally disintegrate in front of our eyes

Girlfriend dumped him over the phone tbh

 

[social]

Girlfriend dumped him over the phone tbh

Compare his reaction to Warne's in 2005 when he was going through marriage breakup, public ridicule etc (mind you, Warnie was probably on with Yuvi's gf )

That's why one of them is a great cricketer and the other is Yuvi

 

[silentstriker]

That's really iffy pop-psychology, I don't think the way you react to personal relationships has any bearing on success at Test cricket.


The above statement should not be taken, in any way, for any reason as a defense of Yuvraj Singh.

 

[silentstriker]

Yea, if all three are out, and Yuvraj plays, we're losing 2-0.

OK, so if they're all out and Yuvi plays, India lose 2-0. If Yuvi is out too, India lose 1-0. If two out of the big three are out, India lose 1-1, and if only one is out, I think India can win 1-0.

Hopefully the good partnership at the top continues, because if they can see off Steyn and the new ball, that'll be a huge advantage for India. However, I think considering how good Steyn is, you'd have to expect at least one breakthrough more often than not.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Compare his reaction to Warne's in 2005 when he was going through marriage breakup, public ridicule etc (mind you, Warnie was probably on with Yuvi's gf )

That's why one of them is a great cricketer and the other is Yuvi

Yeah, but the difference was Yuvraj didn't bring it on himself by texting and hooking up with multiple women. Not saying it absolves him at all, obviously Warne is a cricketer on a whole different plane to him, just saying it couldn't have come at a worse time for him..

 

[Sir Alex]

Yeah, but the difference was Yuvraj didn't bring it on himself by texting and hooking up with multiple women. Not saying it absolves him at all, obviously Warne is a cricketer on a whole different plane to him, just saying it couldn't have come at a worse time for him..

Haha are you referring to Deepika Padukone dumping him? God knows how many guys she date simulateneosuly.

 

[silentstriker]

He's an international cricketer FFS, he should know by now that there's always another train coming.....

 

[Edged&Taken]

V Sehwag, G Gambhir, R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, M Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni*†, Harbhajan Singh, I Sharma, Z Khan, PP Ojha

with the selectors meeting tomorrow to pick the team for the SA series in India, is it time for Badrinath & Manish Pandey ?

 

[G.I.Joe]

Cheteshwar Pujara will consider himself Badrinathed if Pandey gets in before he does.

 

[Kylez]

Is this series being showed on Foxsports? ( somebody please say yes )

Hoping SA can win this series and I think they can aswell. Hoping Steyn can rip into India..India don't play quality fast bowling well at times, but they probably won't have to worry about that because the pitches will most likely be flat in India..

 

[Arjun]

Rather than add another (possibly) non-performing batsman at six/seven, they can go in for CS Ganapathy or Vinay Kumar, and try to take 20 wickets. CSG is a full-fledged middle-order batsman for his state team, and can also bowl steady medium-pace to support Zaheer and Ishant. Vinay Kumar is on top of the domestic bowling charts, and can also score a few lower down- in combination with Mishra, Harbhajan and Zaheer, can make a valuable contribution. Both of them are in good domestic form, doing well in the Duleep semi, and should be in the running for a spot in the Test and ODI team. Alternatively, Irfan Pathan may be in line for a recall, for leading Baroda from the front, as batsman, bowler and captain, and he's a lot more refined than these two. More importantly, Mishra should play both Tests, even if Dhoni prefers someone else.

 

[Prince EWS]

Well given Badrinath was in the squad against Sri Lanka at one point, and that was only two Tests against Bangladesh ago, you'd assume he hasn't been leapfrogged by not only one but three players in that time....

 

[silentstriker]

Badrinath gets picked in the squad because selectors want to seem fair, but they don't actually want to play him. He is too old. I'll bet you that if multiple spots open, Vijay, Raina or someone on the 'right' side of 25 will play.