India in South Africa

[Adarsh]

The fielding has been absolutely pathetic! And I mean absolutely. Shambolic performance!! Munaf Patel as Ravi Shastri says walks like an 80 yr old. In this team, the only players who are somewhat alert in the field are Tendulkar, Karthik, Sreesanth, and Kumble! Everyone else, including Dravid, were completely awful today. No one is prepared to dive at all, and the ball often just rolls underneath their bodies because they are too unathletic to bend down!

 

[surendar]

But I think a draw seems the most likely option. The wicket is not helping the bowlers much!

Yep likey to be a draw.. Now i feel very much that we cud have saved the last test match But past is past, even if we draw this series, our good test form continues :happy

Regarding Kallis wicket, it makes me to remember the way he was dismissed by Ganguly in one of the test matches in India when SA toured India for a test series last time! Actually it moved well which looked like a genuine swing from Ganguly!

Regarding this match, all bowlers have wickets in their column except Munaf! Very unlucky.. I expected more from Kumble though!

SA : 350/7 atm! 99%, match is going to be draw i feel

 

[Adarsh]

Boucher gone! If India are batting early tomorrow, then the game's on.

South Africa all out! Three wickets in 7 balls at the end have put India slightly ahead in this Test series, with a lead of 41. They should try and bat the whole of tomorrow, and make South africa chase 360 on the last day.

 

[surendar]

yeah i cant believe... i guess i shd take my words back regarding the draw option!

Cricinfo displaying Sehwag and Jaffer as openers :what If thats the case, India is clearly looking for a quick big score! They shd be very careful also at the same moment.. The target of around 350 wud be tough in the final day especially with Kumble!

:happy Atlast Jumbo did it as i expected :happy

 

[harishankar]

Saisrini, you're overoptimistic. India's fielding was pathetic. Only Sreesanth and Kumble among the regular bowlers looked like taking wickets. We were lucky with individual brilliance on this tour more than a team effort.

Even getting 9 wickets today was due to South Africa's defensive approach which surprised me. They should have easily crossed 400 today but I guess it was due to some good bowling from part-time bowlers Tendulkar and Sehwag which saved the day for India. We are 41 runs ahead now, but just ahead. We could have easily been 70-80 runs ahead had the fielding been good.

I know it's politic to say that it was a team effort etc. etc. when you win, but for India, really, it's been a couple of crucial performances that have kept them in the series. Eg. Jaffer's century was the sole reason India managed to scrape to 400+ in the first innings. They could have easily made 500+ and shut out South Africa from the match had their batting been really in form.

Don't say I say nonsense... I was stating an opinion and I am entitled to it. India have definitely not played like a team and it's so obvious that Munaf Patel is struggling with fitness. Maybe the decision to send home Pathan was premature?

 

[Cricket_god]

Saisrini, you're overoptimistic. India's fielding was pathetic. Only Sreesanth and Kumble among the regular bowlers looked like taking wickets. We were lucky with individual brilliance on this tour more than a team effort.

Even getting 9 wickets today was due to South Africa's defensive approach which surprised me. They should have easily crossed 400 today but I guess it was due to some good bowling from part-time bowlers Tendulkar and Sehwag which saved the day for India. We are 41 runs ahead now, but just ahead. We could have easily been 70-80 runs ahead had the fielding been good.

I know it's politic to say that it was a team effort etc. etc. when you win, but for India, really, it's been a couple of crucial performances that have kept them in the series. Eg. Jaffer's century was the sole reason India managed to scrape to 400+ in the first innings. They could have easily made 500+ and shut out South Africa from the match had their batting been really in form.

Don't say I say nonsense... I was stating an opinion and I am entitled to it.

I do not agree mate if you saw the match all the bowlers gave it all on a flat deck.Kumble may have got the wickets but the pressure oin the other end was immense the south africa just scored 230 runs today and it was a great bowling effort.The reverse swing was great .if munaf was fit the yorkers which he was bowling at 135 would have been at 145 and that could have helped but i think it was good effort by him bowling a good line and length.

 

[harishankar]

Yeah, I don't say the effort was lacking. Just that some people didn't pull their weight in this series. Munaf being unfit and playing this game should not have been allowed at all.

Dravid, Tendulkar and Sehwag haven't pulled their weight in batting for the whole tour and put so much pressure on the lower order. The bowling has really had to do so much to make up for our batting failures. And if you think about it, even the win in Johannesburg was not due to great batting. They were in a precarious position before Laxman saved them in the second innings.

India fought hard, yes. But it didn't look like all 11 players have pulled the team weight otherwise we'd be 2-0 up instead of being 1-1. Imagine if the batting had come good on this tour how dominant India would have been! That's why I say I am disappointed... because the application was missing...

Also the luck has gone SA's way on crucial periods of the Durban test match and didn't help us either. We have much to thank the bowling, particularly Sreesanth that India have challenged SA so much.

 

[SaiSrini]

Saisrini, you're overoptimistic. India's fielding was pathetic. Only Sreesanth and Kumble among the regular bowlers looked like taking wickets. We were lucky with individual brilliance on this tour more than a team effort.

Even getting 9 wickets today was due to South Africa's defensive approach which surprised me. They should have easily crossed 400 today but I guess it was due to some good bowling from part-time bowlers Tendulkar and Sehwag which saved the day for India. We are 41 runs ahead now, but just ahead. We could have easily been 70-80 runs ahead had the fielding been good.

I know it's politic to say that it was a team effort etc. etc. when you win, but for India, really, it's been a couple of crucial performances that have kept them in the series. Eg. Jaffer's century was the sole reason India managed to scrape to 400+ in the first innings. They could have easily made 500+ and shut out South Africa from the match had their batting been really in form.

Don't say I say nonsense... I was stating an opinion and I am entitled to it. India have definitely not played like a team and it's so obvious that Munaf Patel is struggling with fitness. Maybe the decision to send home Pathan was premature?

You're a pessimist who doesnt seem to give a damn credit to where it is due... I used the word "nonsense" as a tool to put forward my opinion. Yes, I still stand by that word. India have played far better cricket than what they have been playing in recent times. I dont think playing test cricket makes it easier for our players than playing ODI cricket. ODI's are the easier form of the game than tests. We were thrashed in the ODI's and we fared poorly in the ODI tournaments before too. So considering that, we have far exceeded expectations and certainly deserve a series win.

 

[harishankar]

I have given credit where it's due. Please take a look at my previous post.

All I say is that it's not been a team performance... I'm entitled to be disappointed that it was 1-1 instead of 1-0 or even 2-0 in favour of India before going into this match.

I have been so optimistic that you would be surprised... At one tiem I even expected India to win the Durban test and then at least save it, but so much went wrong there...

It's one thing to mindless praise India, it's another to be disappointed they don't perform to their full potential... even with the weather on their side in Durban, they couldn't bat out 50+ overs to save a match.... that defeat still hurts.

It's been performance in patches...

 

[SaiSrini]

India fought hard, yes. But it didn't look like all 11 players have pulled the team weight otherwise we'd be 2-0 up instead of being 1-1. Imagine if the batting had come good on this tour how dominant India would have been! That's why I say I am disappointed... because the application was missing...

Also the luck has gone SA's way on crucial periods of the Durban test match and didn't help us either. We have much to thank the bowling, particularly Sreesanth that India have challenged SA so much.

I agree our batting hasnt been as good as it can be! But we have batted well enough to put ourselves in winning positions. I wont say Sachin is a failure in this test series. He has partly succeeded in getting some of the form back. He has had scores of 44, 63, 64 and has partly succeeded. I dont agree anymore when some one says that only a century can make us say Sachin has had a successful tour. Sachin has often had to cope with over expectations, and its time we reduce that on our sides!

373 (a lead of 41 runs) is a good total from India's point of view. They have restricted South Africa on Day 3 and have a good handy lead to play with. At the end of Day 2, players from both sides said that any lead in the first innings would be fantastic, and India have won on that point. Sehwag should open tomorrow with Jaffer, and if he can give us a blazing start, we can surely think of setting a target fo 350 for South Africa on the final day. We have to bat the whole of tomorrow. Also we need to make sure we get a minimum of 1 full day (90 overs) to bowl at South Africa!

 

[surendar]

I dont think playing test cricket makes it easier for our players than playing ODI cricket. ODI's are the easier form of the game than tests. We were thrashed in the ODI's and we fared poorly in the ODI tournaments before too. So considering that, we have far exceeded expectations and certainly deserve a series win.

correct, test matches are the real test for the players especially a tough test for player's tempo and hence the name i guess Recently ODIs are filled with lots of uncertainity which is very obvious from 400+ chase!

Even in Windies, inspite of the crushing loss in ODIs, we did well in Test series. Its the similar situation here too i.e we are continuing the good test form. We have worked hard in this series and as Sai said, we shd have won this if we wud have saved the last test which was slipped unfortunately from our own hands!

 

[harishankar]

Yeah, let's now hope India's battign can hold up in the 2nd innings. Sehwag should open since this is a belter of a pitch and he should enjoy the new ball coming on to the bat. If he cannot rediscover lost form in this pitch, I don't know how he can ever rediscover form.

 

[SaiSrini]

I have given credit where it's due. Please take a look at my previous post.

All I say is that it's not been a team performance... I'm entitled to be disappointed that it was 1-1 instead of 1-0 or even 2-0 in favour of India before going into this match.

I have been so optimistic that you would be surprised... At one tiem I even expected India to win the Durban test and then at least save it, but so much went wrong there...

It's one thing to mindless praise India, it's another to be disappointed they don't perform to their full potential... even with the weather on their side in Durban, they couldn't bat out 50+ overs to save a match.... that defeat still hurts.

It's been performance in patches...

The Durban defeat is a thing of the past. We havent been discussing about the Durban defeat here. We are talking about India deserving to win the series or not. And going by how they have played in this series, they deserve to win it. They played as a team in Jo'burg. In Durban, we had various moments which were won by India. And here, more often than not, we have had the upper hand than South Africa.

 

[harishankar]

They were lucky with this pitch though. I'd have thought somebody bribed the groundsman.

Don't get me wrong, we had 2 great opportunities to shut the series from SA. In Durban by saving the match and here in the 1st innings by scoring 500+ runs. Neither has happened... but there's still hope. :happy

 

[SaiSrini]

Yeah, let's now hope India's battign can hold up in the 2nd innings. Sehwag should open since this is a belter of a pitch and he should enjoy the new ball coming on to the bat. If he cannot rediscover lost form in this pitch, I don't know how he can ever rediscover form.

The pitch is still helping the spinners. The fast bowlers are making it more tough for the batsmen by creating footmarks on the good length areas, esp. Zaheer Khan. Paul Harris is the key tomorrow. I think Graeme Smith will also bowl quite some overs tomorrow. He needs to bowl as this wicket is spinning quite well. And everytime, puffs of dust can be seen coming off the pitch.

They were lucky with this pitch though. I'd have thought somebody bribed the groundsman.

Thats not India's problem. We are playing outside the subcontinent! If South Africa didnt prepare a lively wicket, its their problem. We have to play well no matter what pitch we are given, and so far in this test, we have done well

Don't get me wrong, we had 2 great opportunities to shut the series from SA. In Durban by saving the match and here in the 1st innings by scoring 500+ runs. Neither has happened...

Being South Africa, arent they good enough to fight back and restrict India to 414? Give them some credit yaar!