India in South Africa 2013

First topic message reminder :

The BCCI have picked the test squad for South Africa well in advance, so the debates can also start well in time.

Poor South Africa seem to have landed up here on that all too rare phenomenon, a very good day for Ishant Sharma with the ball that happens ones every 3 years. Ishant has taken 2 in an over. He first dismissed Henry Davids with a good ball that the batsman edged to slip. Then he troubled JP Duminy with a couple of pretty good ones, one of which Duminy edged to Raina.
SA 28-3 after 8.

Quinton de Kock is getting in on his 3rd hundred in the series and skipper AB de Villiers has gone pass his 50, and those 3 wickets seem from another age as South Africa are pretty much back in control at 168-3 in 35 overs. AB on 51, and de Kock is just 2 short of his hundred.

Has been a fine innings from de Kock, but the Indians didn't help themselves when Ajinkya Rahane failed to latch on to a rather regulation catch when the batsman was on 37. Quinton gave them another chance 6 runs later, but this time it was Yuvraj Singh who decided to show off his generosity.

Ishant has got de Kock. I am increasingly getting worried about our test attack. They usually need no reason to play him!.......

Odd stat for de Kock, has now got to 50 four times in ODIs and has gone on to a century in every one. I think that it's also the most runs scored by a batsman in a 3 ODI series.

SA 257-5 after 45. AB absolutely sprinted from 50 to hundred and then got out LBW to Umesh Yadav for 109. Miller and McLaren trying to give the innings a last minute push. A score above 300 is not out of reach.

Goodness, Sharma finishes with 4-40 in 10 overs. He might have just bowled himself into the test team!.

After struggling at 28-3, South Africa have recovered and then dominated India to reach 301-8. Hundreds for de Kock and de Villiers, 4 wickets for Ishant, 3 for Shami.

The rains have arrived!. There is big Vern playing, but without Steyn and Morkel, the Indian batsmen had a little better chance to put in a substantive performance though chasing down that score would have been a very difficult task. But not to be as of now as the weather has different ideas.

Its a washout after the South Africa innings.

msp83 wrote:South Africa won the toss and are batting. Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel aren't playing. Henry Davids comes in, and Imran Tahir is getting some game time before the tests.
India have dropped Ajinkya Rahane after one game in which he made 8 before being given out wrongly. Poor Ajinkya is being wronged by everyone. Yuvraj Singh is back. Can't understand the selections with Team India any more. the likes of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma are given license to fail day in and day out, perhaps Ajinkya should chhange his name to Ajinkya Sharma?

Yuvraj was not dropped last game. He was unfit. Anyways, I do think he should be dropped but not sure how they went with Rahane in the last game ahead of Rayudu when it is Rayudu who has been warming the benches for the last couple of series. Rayudu has far more right to feel aggrieved.

I don't know why Rahane is even in the ODI squad ahead of Pujara. Can't really digest the outrage over his exclusion from the XI. He is freakin lucky to be in the squad.

ShankyCricket wrote:I don't know why Rahane is even in the ODI squad ahead of Pujara. Can't really digest the outrage over his exclusion from the XI. He is freakin lucky to be in the squad.

 
the term lucky cannot be used for anyone in the genreation in whihc Rohit sharma is born compared to him  

every game regardless of how good or bad India bowled...regardless of the ptich SA gets 300.......
Dhoni's captaincy is getting exposed.......he goes on the defnsive too quickly with his part-timers...

I hope he learns how to choke an opponent in seaming conditions with 3 pretty decent seamers else the test matches are gonna be a rude realization.

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:I don't know why Rahane is even in the ODI squad ahead of Pujara. Can't really digest the outrage over his exclusion from the XI. He is freakin lucky to be in the squad.

 
the term lucky cannot be used for anyone  in the genreation in whihc Rohit sharma is born compared to him  

You don't think Pujara is more deserving than Rahane to get an ODI spot? Also, going by your principles of "consistency and fair run", shouldn't Rayudu, who has been warming the benches for the last couple of series have been given a chance ahead of Rahane, who has only come into the squad for this series?

msp83 wrote:Goodness, Sharma finishes with 4-40 in 10 overs. He might have just bowled himself into the test team!.

Unfortuantely, yes   

Rahane has been in and around the ODI squad for the last 2 and a half years and never got a fair run in the side unlike some other technically sound potentially great batsmen who wasn't even good enough to lay a bat on Dale Steyn for 16 consecutive balls!. Yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane scored runs against England in England, managed a few decent performances in the return ODI series, but was dropped at the first hint of failure unlike some other greats who failed for 6 years, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane gets dropped after 1 failure, yet some others get to keep their places despite scoring 13 runs in a 5 match ODI series, despite everyone else around them score big runs consistently, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.

Henry Davids i dont think belongs in international cricket to be honest..struggled yesterday, always seems to struggle in 50 over cricket for SA...a t20 batsman at best in international cricket.

He only averages 30 in list A, I have no idea as to why they continue to resist with him in ODI's. One of the best t20 players in the country, but he simply can't cut it in ODI.

kingraf wrote:He only averages 30 in list A, I have no idea as to why they continue to resist with him in ODI's. One of the best t20 players in the country, but he simply can't cut it in ODI.

Well I guess he's in the squad because Faf's on honeymoon.

I like Davids, try's hard and is a nice guy, unfortunately International T20 seems to be his limitation.

msp83 wrote:Rahane has been in and around the ODI squad for the last 2 and a half years and never got a fair run in the side unlike some other technically sound potentially great batsmen who wasn't even good enough to lay a bat on Dale Steyn for 16 consecutive balls!. Yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane scored runs against England in England, managed a few decent performances in the return ODI series, but was dropped at the first hint of failure unlike some other greats who failed for 6 years, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane gets dropped after 1 failure, yet some others get to keep their places despite scoring 13 runs in a 5 match ODI series, despite everyone else around them score big runs consistently, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.

Don't worry I read that India will only play Ashwin as the sole spinner in the Test series.

So the number 6 slot is vacant, so a Rahane should get another couple of Test caps.

Day one in the warm-up match has been cancelled, and Indian fans have taken to the CSA facebook page to blame CSA for unseasonal rains, and magically removing the drainage, or for abbreviating the series so India dont have time to acclimatize.

kingraf wrote:Day one in the warm-up match has been cancelled, and Indian fans have taken to the CSA facebook page to blame CSA for unseasonal rains, and magically removing the drainage, or for abbreviating the series so India dont have time to acclimatize.

How dare? Mr Srinivasan will cancel all engagements with the damn rain!!. It won't be allowed to fall anywhere within the jurisdiction of the BCCI!.

Now our dear Mr Srinivasan has come to know that the South African broadcaster is rather incompetent. So he'll soon be setting up a production company under the principalship of his son inlaw! , and the South Africans better understand that its all for the betterment of the game in South Africa and the world. If anyone has a problem with this, then the ICC will cut their revenue share, and the BCCI will have nothing to do with it.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2013-14/content/current/story/699919.html

msp83 wrote:Rahane has been in and around the ODI squad for the last 2 and a half years and never got a fair run in the side unlike some other technically sound potentially great batsmen who wasn't even good enough to lay a bat on Dale Steyn for 16 consecutive balls!. Yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane scored runs against England in England, managed a few decent performances in the return ODI series, but was dropped at the first hint of failure unlike some other greats who failed for 6 years, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane gets dropped after 1 failure, yet some others get to keep their places despite scoring 13 runs in a 5 match ODI series, despite everyone else around them score big runs consistently, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.

My point is, Rahane didn't do anything to even deserve a place in the ODI squad in the first place ahead of the likes of Pujara, who has a far better domestic OD record.
BTW Rahane averaged 32 in England. Lower than the career average of the bloke you love to deride...

ShankyCricket wrote:

msp83 wrote:Rahane has been in and around the ODI squad for the last 2 and a half years and never got a fair run in the side unlike some other technically sound potentially great batsmen who wasn't even good enough to lay a bat on Dale Steyn for 16 consecutive balls!. Yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane scored runs against England in England, managed a few decent performances in the return ODI series, but was dropped at the first hint of failure unlike some other greats who failed for 6 years, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.
Rahane gets dropped after 1 failure, yet some others get to keep their places despite scoring 13 runs in a 5 match ODI series, despite everyone else around them score big runs consistently, yet Rahane is a lucky man!.

My point is, Rahane didn't do anything to even deserve a place in the ODI squad in the first place ahead of the likes of Pujara, who has a far better domestic OD record.
BTW Rahane averaged 32 in England. Lower than the career average of the bloke you love to deride...

Wonder how much was the bloke averaging before Stuart Broad broke his hand with the first ball he faced in internationals in that tour?

Wasn't it Bresnan?

Anyways, why are you bringing Rohit into this? The argument is that Pujara is more deserving than Rahane.

ShankyCricket wrote:Wasn't it Bresnan?

Anyways, why are you bringing Rohit into this? The argument is that Pujara is more deserving than Rahane.

Bresnan doesn't have the pace!. It was Broad.......
Rohit had to be brought in because you mentioned luck in Rahane's case.......

I would like Pujara to be a part of the ODI setup. But I think its not as straight forward as it might seem. Pujara has a game that is most suited to batting in the top 3. Virat Kohli has owned the number 3 position, and Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit have worked well at the top this year. Pujara at 4 may not be a very bad option, or they can move Kohli, who like MSD is most versatile and adaptable to 4 and play Cheteshwar at 3.
What is going for Rahane is that he has already don the additional work that can facilitate him being able to adapt to the number 4 role. Not saying Pujara can't or won't do the same, but Rahane has proved to be a more adaptable batsman in T-20s and gives the impression that he could adapt to the different demands that the number 4 role might throw up.

Err... Pujara has a far better domestic OD record than Rahane. What has T20 got to do with this? Pujara has shown the ability to score quickly even in Tests. Remember the 2nd innings of the Delhi Test when he scored 80 odd not out at a SR of 90 with a broken finger on a minefield of a pitch? If he can score quickly in Tests, why not in ODIs? Or are IPL and T20 performances more imp than Test and domestic 50 over performances?

Anyways, I would like Che at 3 and Kohli at 4. Given Kohli's issues against the moving ball, he may well be better off batting at 4 outside the subcontinent.

The first test will be underway in about a couple of hours.
South Africa have already declared their xi. Despite the wanderers pitch expected to have seam and pace and the spinner supposed to play more of a holding responsibility, SA have gone in with Imran Tahir and not Robin Peterson.
In their last home season, South Africa won all the tests they played and not a single game went into the 5th day. It will be a real struggle for the Indian batsmen to overcome that daunting bit of stat itself.

OK, my silent protest against the BCCI is over.

India has a very good record at the Wanderers.

They have only played there three times, but has not lost a test there yet.

One of their two test wins on Sa soil was at the wanderers in 2006.

though it has to be said that India hasn't played at the wanderers since then, and the Sa machine really only started to roll end of 2006.

Big difference for India here is they have not faced the SA seam attack at the Wanderers in tests.

Welcome back Biltong, we are all together in protest against Mr Srinivasan and co the way this tour was messed up, but ultimately cricket has to win over all that........
India did win a test at the Wanderers in 2006, and South Africa couldn't win a series against India for the last 7 years, as is the case with India as the last 3 serieses were all drawn.
But this Indian lineup is very different from the won that fought hard last time in SA. There is no Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman who held the batting together last time, there is no Rahul Dravid the wall either. There is no Gautam Gambhir who was all determination last time to give the top order a sense of stability.
And there was no Vernon Philander to share the torment responsibilities with Dale Steyn last time.
So I don't hold out massive hopes for India in this series, but I do hope they'd play a competitive series and produce some good cricket and make the South Africans earn their win.........

India won the toss and are batting.
Ajinkya Rahane in for the retired Sachin Tendulkar, and Zaheer Khan is back to lead the attack. Ravichandran Ashwin is the only spinner, and Ishant Sharma is preferred over Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav.

I think this series is going to be close fought.

Our batting line up apart from amla and de Villiers aren't in great form currently.

Alviro Pieterse, Smith, Kallis and FaF du Plessis might all struggle.

Our bowling unit will have to fire big time for us to win this.

Steyn getting that out-swinger going in the first over itself.

Steyn has bounced out Dhawan for 13. India 17-1.

India have seen off the opening spells from Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander with only 1 down. They are 24-1 after the first hour.

Morne Morkel's record is pretty disappointing for someone who's played so many Tests.

This series against India and the following one against Australia could be make or break for Morne.

Marchant de Lange bowls faster and is more hostile and is 6 years younger.

Murali Vijay has been leaving as much as possible and trying nothing extravagant. He's 6 of 41 at the moment.
He did survive a half chance though, when a Morne Morkel short ball took the bat handle and just managed to get out of Hashim Amla's hands despite a terrific effort from the fielder who covered plenty of ground.

Morkel gets Vijay. A quick delivery outside off, Vijay who has been leaving most of it up to now just went fishing and edged behind.
If Steyn and Philander don't get you, Morkel will!.
India 24-2.

Its Virat Kohli who is batting at 4.

Ooh, Pujara very nearly goes there, Morkel is generating good speed and he found Pujara's edge but the ball didn't carry to the South African skipper.

Steyn's back on.

The 50 up for India, 51-2.

Imran Tahir dishes up some rubbish before the lunch break. 10 off the first over. Two long hops nailed for 4 by Kohli.

This joker might get some cheap wicket against a rubbish Pakistan side, but he's hopeless against top quality players of spin.

70-2 probably India's session

India go to lunch at 70-2. Pujara on 18, Kohli on 32.
At the end of it, I'd say even session. The South African bowlers bowled well, the pitch has had good carry and bounce and the seamers were getting some movement.
Dhawan was done in by the short ball and Vijay though he blunted the new ball to some extent, couldn't build on the time he spend at the crease as he played a bit of a poor shot to get out. But good determination from Pujara, and Kohli took advantage of every scoring opportunity available and mixed it with good defense.

Refreshed after lunch, Steyn and Philander restarting the attack for South Africa.

Virat Kohli looks surprisingly compact and very correct thus far.

He was all over the place in the the ODI series.

Looks as though he's not as rushed thus far in this innings.

Nothing quite says disappointing like a series between the no.1 and no.2 teams in the world, one of whom has the best fast-bowling attack in the world, where there are only 2 tests and a meagre crowd turn-out.

Come on South Africa.