India in South Africa

[prarara]

You seem to be in a very exciting mood!

haha

Oi Bhajji's opening up a can'o'whoop A$$!

 

[gamerkid22]

Pathan reaching his century now and Bhajji is playing brilliantly already got 2 sixes and into his 40's now .

Also Well Played Saurav Ganguly Dada is back to Rule :happy

 

[prarara]

What a rippa! Pathan gets his first FC hundred!

 

[gamerkid22]

and he got to the hundred with a SIX

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Pathan got a ton??
Brilliant!
Who needs Viru? I say, the switch roles. Viru can be our third spinner, Pathan our opening batsman...

 

[prarara]

Pathan got a ton??
Brilliant!
Who needs Viru? I say, the switch roles. Viru can be our third spinner, Pathan our opening batsman...

It would probably work out better that way.

 

[surendar]

Pathan palying well! :happy But Unlucky Bhaji to miss his 50 though! Indian lower order looking strong aftr a long long time!

 

[gamerkid22]

hey suren get that the other way , It has started again > Indian lower order playing well and Indian top order collapsing . It happened at the start of the year u remember ? same thing happening again

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Moren Morkel (Albie's bro) is a Fast bowler. Steyn killed India in the previous warmup, Moren here, and Nel throught the series (Although Pollock was more effective).
Anyone sense a pattern here?
Irfan going beautifully. 29 runs with Zaheer.

de Wet to Khan, FOUR, Excellent straight drive!Players and umpires coming off the field.

And thats then end of the day or session.
316/7. Pathan 111, Ganguly 83, Bhajji 47, Extras 27 Rest: 48.
Wow.

Meanwhile, South Africa have announced their Test squad.
Graeme Smith (Captain) , Jacques Kallis (Vice Captain) , Paul Adams , Ashim Amla , Nicky Boj? , Mark Boucher , AB De Villiers , Herschelle Gibbs , Andrew Hall , Andr? Nel , Makhaya Ntini , Shaun Pollock , Ashwell Prince , Jacques Rudolph , Dale Steyn

A) Paul Adams is back!!
B) Isn't it spel Hashim?
C) We're screwed

 

[surendar]

A)Paul Adams is back!!
B) Isn't it spel Hashim?
C) We're screwed

A) We are better player of spinners! So mostly its not going to produce serious effect on India i guess!
B) It doesnt matter as long as he doesnt get a huge score against India
c) hmmm.. testing time especially for Sourav

 

[sohum]

Disgusting performance from the Indian top order except for Dada. I doubt our lower order will be able to repeat the performance against the actual South African team, whereas our top order will probably do it perfectly to the t.

 

[SaiSrini]

Its EA cricket 07 style of writing!

Apart from Ganguly, the other important problem is now Pathan! It looked almost that Pathan shd be dropped becos of his poor bowling but he has showed the capacity to bat well again and that too in crisis situation!

Shd Pathan be picked or dropped ??? Zaheer has done well... i felt Zaheer,Munaf and Sree wud do fine! If Pathan is going to be picked, then one of them shd go .. i feel prbly Zaheer has to sit down! ( It will be a slight problem in having two left arm bowlers in Test i guess....)

I think India will play with 6 batsman+Dhoni+4 bowlers (if the wicket is fast, grassy with bounce). If Pathan plays, then it would be Zaheer, Pathan and Munaf with Kumble taking up the spinner's role. I think its going to be tough for the management to pick the team now. Here would be my team for the first test (as of now)

If the wicket at the Wanderers is a fast, grassy wicket

Wasim Jaffer
Gautam Gambhir
Rahul Dravid (c)
Sachin Tendulkar
Saurav Ganguly
VVS Laxman
MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel

If the wicket at the Wanderers is a batting wicket or aids spin

Wasim Jaffer
Virender Sehwag
VVS Laxman
Sachin Tendulkar
Saurav Ganguly
MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan
Harbhajan Singh
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel

Moren Morkel (Albie's bro) is a Fast bowler. Steyn killed India in the previous warmup, Moren here, and Nel throught the series (Although Pollock was more effective).
Anyone sense a pattern here?
Irfan going beautifully. 29 runs with Zaheer.

And thats then end of the day or session.
316/7. Pathan 111, Ganguly 83, Bhajji 47, Extras 27 Rest: 48.
Wow.


A) Paul Adams is back!!
B) Isn't it spel Hashim?
C) We're screwed

Why are we screwed?

I sense that the wicket at the Wanderers is not going to be a fast one. Its the same wicket where Dravid scored that 148 during India's tour in 1996-97. And Wanderers always has the reputation of being the best batting wicket. So I think India might go in with 5 bowlers. If so, which batsman do they drop off? Ganguly cant be, he has just played a superb innings first match of the tour (for him). Ideally, it should be Tendulkar, but the management wont have the guts to drop him. So I think Dravid might not be risked for the first test and the team would play 5 batsmen and 5 bowlers!

 

[viral1991]

That was a magnificent & royal comeback from Saurav! Irfan was a bit of a surprise though, with his ton!

 

[SaiSrini]

It was Ganguly at his best - Dileep Premachandran

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/rsavind/content/current/story/271587.html

A significant article from Dileep Premachandran of Cricinfo, since I have been reading his articles for long and very rarely have I read articles of his praising Ganguly.

I hope this innings acts like a tonic to the team the same way his innings of 144 did at Brisbane in 2003-04!

 

[prarara]

In a weird way Dada is now leading by example.