India tour of South Africa - 2013/14

[War]

see I totally disagree this could be used as an acid test. south africa have rolled australia, new zealand and pakistan for under 50!!! in tests in recent times. there isn't one team in cricket this south african side has made look hopeless in the last few years.

It would be really dangerous for india to make any big decisions on this tour, dhawan did well in england in CT trophy, that shouldn't be forgotten in favour of judging him on how well he does against steyn in favourable south african conditions.

my worry for this series is that india's defeat will fit a narrative of "india can't play swing bowling." when no one in cricket is playing steyn, philander and morkel well because they're a ferocious attack.

Yes S Africa's quicks have embarrassed everyone in recent years, however Dhawan and all IND batsmen, playing away from home always have to face this historical Achilles heel of doing well vs the pace in helpful conditions.

That's is why i mentioned Gambhir & also too Jaffer. Producing quality all-round openers, that can prosper in all conditions, is IND biggest problem in their history - other than Gavaskar. Like Gambhir & Jaffer he isn't the first IND opener to start brilliantly in generally favourable batting conditions - then suddenly nose dive - after getting a real first big test vs top quality pace bowling

I'm not writing Dhawan off, but i've seen this movie before and i suspect if he had played two top innings in the opening games - people would have been jumping on his bandwagon saying he is the real deal. So i'm just calling a spade what it is.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

probably yeah, there would have been knee jerk reactions so you're within your rights to point that out, and from what I've seen even though they've not done particularly well Rohit and Kohli have dealt with things better than dhawan. certainly if anyone fails badly in NZ you would have a case for saying they are not built to do well abroad.

just I do think dhawan could have a very succesful career and be well worth his place even if he fails to ever conquer this south african team at home. gavaskar is just too high a bench mark to compare anyone too, I'd struggle to name a better opener in the world since he retired.

 

[War]

@ SBH Nah i aint want or expect Dhawan him to reach the standards Gavaskar set to be considered good. That's obviously unrealistic - since Sunny is arguably the greatest opener in the games history. Some elder Indian born before the Tendy era might tell you too, he is IND's greatest ever batsman.

However if you pick an IND all-time team you would struggle to find a partner in India history who was a competent all-conditions opener. Some of them had their moments, but majority faded away after failing the pace test.

Three of the better ones in Dravid Vinoo Mankad & Shastri were middle-order batsmen by trait. Hell even Sehwag was everyone knows his struggles was a converted opener.

 

[used2bcool]

I think this is more or less expected, so you might not see huge selection decisions taking place. The fact that our bowlers have ferociously failed to show up combined with the expected regression of the batsmen has led to us looking a lot worse than we are.

With that said, I'd like to think that the Indian management is wise enough to see that they don't have some savior sitting around warming the bench, so sticking with the current group of batters is the way to go. Considering that Dhawan, Rohit, Kohli, Dhoni, and Raina are probably going to feature in the Tests, it's best to keep sticking them out there in the hope that more time facing the fire molds them better for the prolonged examination that will come in the Test series.

Quality pace bowling (in helpful conditions) will unravel the best of batsmen, really. We've seen it time and time and time again in this batsman-friendly era. Hell, South Africa and Pakistan were doing it to each other not two weeks ago. Although it would be a stretch to call Pakistani batsmen "the best" at anything. *Rimshot*

 

[greymatter776]

To win the third ODI in my opinion, we need the fantasy character Atul Sharma who
could bowl at more than 16o kmph or 100mph constantly I am sure thats near to impossible so in short India will fail

 

[sami ullah khan]

Everyone likes to point the finger at Indian batting but hardly anyone has noticed the abysmal performance of their bowling in such good conditions for bowling.

 

[Meet]

The thing is what would be the perfect bowling combo for IND in next game?
I would say, Ishant, Umesh, Bhuvneshwar and Mishra.

 

[used2bcool]

The thing is what would be the perfect bowling combo for IND in next game?
I would say, Ishant, Umesh, Bhuvneshwar and Mishra.

I would say go with Bhuvneshwar, Yadav, Shami, and Jadeja. Get the extra batsman in there and get part-time overs out of Raina and Yuvraj. With that in mind, my XI:
1 Dhawan 2 Rohit 3 Kohli 4 Rahane 5 Yuvraj 6 Raina 7 Dhoni 8 Jadeja 9 Bhuvneshwar 10 Shami 11 Yadav.

 

[mrzdt]

Unfortunately the Indian batsman are not really as good as they think they are. With all due respect, they thrive in conditions when batting is easy. I don't think any team can bat as well as India does in batsman friendly conditions. SA come close but I think India is better. Unfortunately as soon as there is assistance for the bowlers they can't cope and they seem unable to adjust. You have to bat a bit differently when things are going the bowlers way.

There are players who can get a 50 in the most difficult conditions, Dhoni is probably one, Kallis another, Chanderpaul also comes to mind. That is because they know how to adjust and play in those conditions. Unfortunately India's inability to adapt to conditions that are not always easy for batting is making them look bad.

Their bowling always relies on spin, so when the conditions don't suit spin they struggle. South Africa tends to be the other way around, however a player like Steyn will do well on any pitch.

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If South Africa bowl like they did in the first 2 ODI's and India bat like they did, we are going to have 2 test matches which are over in 3 days. SA's bowling attack is the best attack in the world and they bowl sides out for low scores. If the bounce and pace is too much for India it is not going to be much of a battle.

 

[cricketaddict]

Come on!! Steyn Morkel and Kallis had to play this one. I really wanted India to fight and struggle. If even they win this, people will say not the best side. Its really surprising to see team saying RESTED. 3 match ODI series 2 match Test series and you want to rest?

Hope India show some fight today judging this pitch to be flat as Indian conditions. See 300+ score from SAF for sure today

 

[Aalay]

Rahane dropped after one match and than they say he does not perform in the chances given.

 

[zeustrojanstark]

Bring in Pujara for ODIs too.

 

[Aalay]

Ishant Sharma has finally decided to step up.

 

[playkid12]

I've been saying that SA will absolutely slaughter India throughout this series, but I think the Indian batting has looked a lot worse than it really is, partially due to there being no practice games in SA.

I think Kohli, Dhoni, and a few others can adapt to SA conditions if given time to warm up.

That being said, the gulf between the two sides' bowling is so large that it wouldn't really matter.

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Bring in Pujara for ODIs too.

He's a much better choice than flat-track-bully Rohit Sharma, can't-bat-against-spin-or-swing Yuvraj Singh, and short-ball-problems Raina.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Whats up with Ishant Sharma ?? 4 wickets and economy of 4

Another pounding for the rest of the lot ..

According to MSD: First match - bowling failure. Second match - batting failure.
Last match - both ?