India tour of South Africa - 2013/14

[aditya123]

Dale Steyn has gone wicket-less for 57 overs in this series! Quite a big change for a bowler who usually picks a wicket every 42nd ball.

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Ranagana Herath's 9 wickets in the test at Durban an year ago, might have prompted both teams to go with left arm spinners in this test.

Please try and post in normal text. It becomes irritating when bold and colored fonts are overused. Reading your posts I feel as if I`m reading someones twitter feed or RSS feed.

 

[scratch978]

Please try and post in normal text. It becomes irritating when bold and colored fonts are overused. Reading your posts I feel as if I`m reading someones twitter feed or RSS feed.

Yes I feel I have overused it (I shouldn't have overdone it for small posts like above), but bold and colored fonts give out stress on 'what is more important in the post' as a long post may irritate someone..


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Since the introduction of Morne Morkel into the attack, India have scored 17/1 in 10 overs. The runs have dried up to a trickle.
Excellent bowling from the pacers and a wicket seems just around the corner.

 

[Epic]

I have been really impressed with Murali Vijay`s intent so far. In all the innings so far he has fought it out against some fiery new ball bowling by Steyn and co. The scores might not suggest the importance of his efforts but Im mighty impressed. If he keeps doing this, the scores will eventually come. NZ, England and Australia are in for a tough summer if this Indian side keeps up this clarity! Really excited with our fearless approach and belief.

I second this, before the start of the series he was definitely the guy most wanted replaced (me included) by Gambhir, and looking at comments on Cricinfo and what not, that guy looks to be Dhawan now, which is just as unfair, give the players some time ffs!

Since the introduction of Morne Morkel into the attack, India have scored 17/1 in 10 overs. The runs have dried up to a trickle.
Excellent bowling from the pacers and a wicket seems just around the corner.

Morkel has definitely bowled well, but I reckon the scoring rate coming down has more to do with Dhawan being out and Pujara coming in.

 

[scratch978]

It's been a good session for India after opting to bat..
There is nothing alarming in the pitch and South Africa could be in for a long day if the wicket continues to play as it has.

 

[aditya123]

This is exactly the sort of wicket where we are most vulnerable. Even if we manage to put up a decent 1st innings total, our bowlers will find it very hard to restrict SA and once we come out to bat in the 3rd innings, our batsmen will be under pressure. I firmly believe that we are at our best when the pitches offer something for our seamers.

 

[scratch978]

I second this, before the start of the series he was definitely the guy most wanted replaced (me included) by Gambhir, and looking at comments on Cricinfo and what not, that guy looks to be Dhawan now, which is just as unfair, give the players some time ffs!

Just one more innings left for Shikhar Dhawan to make his mark on South African soil. Expected more from him given the kind of batsman he is and the kind of form he was in this year. Hope he makes it big in next innings.

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I have been really impressed with Murali Vijay`s intent so far. In all the innings so far he has fought it out against some fiery new ball bowling by Steyn and co. The scores might not suggest the importance of his efforts but Im mighty impressed.

Yes, credit must be given to Murali Vijay. He has negated the danger of the South African bowling attack throughout the series now. Hope he goes on to make a big one today.

 

[Epic]

This is exactly the sort of wicket where we are most vulnerable. Even if we manage to put up a decent 1st innings total, our bowlers will find it very hard to restrict SA and once we come out to bat in the 3rd innings, our batsmen will be under pressure. I firmly believe that we are at our best when the pitches offer something for our seamers.

This is where I have a problem with the selection of Jadeja over Ashwin, there'll be quite a bit of turn on offer come days 4 and 5, but we'll have out there a spinner who gets little to no turn...

 

[aditya123]

This is where I have a problem with the selection of Jadeja over Ashwin, there'll be quite a bit of turn on offer come days 4 and 5, but we'll have out there a spinner who gets little to no turn...

Exactly, if at all they wanted to pick another spinner over Ashwin, Ojha would have been a better choice.

 

[scratch978]

That's why Dhoni is said to be unconventional captain.
Let us Wait and Watch, we don't know what's going on in his mind...

 

[aditya123]

I shudder to think of Ishant Sharma bowling on this wicket . Someone in the SA lineup is going to bat on and on here, might be Kallis or Amla who do that.

 

[scratch978]

It's been a good first hour for India after lunch.
With the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Dhoni to come, things are looking bright.

Also, Vijay's maturity, bodes well for the team. He was unfortunate to get out in the 2nd innings of that epic test!! If can continue to play with such temperament, I think that the opening conundrum is half resolved!!

 

[Aalay]

I can't believe people are saying you need to replace Rahane with Jadeja? I mean seriously, what does Rahane needs to do to play 5 game in a row? He is a good talented young player who needs some support to perform. He played well in the first inning of the first test scoring those crucial 47 runs and people still want him out of the team.

I would have gone for Ojha instead of Jadeja but I feel that they want Jadeja to play just a holding role. It is also good to see Murli Vijay among runs. He played really well in the last test match but just couldn't get a big score. Pujara as always has been solid.

 

[playkid12]

What exactly does Pujara need to do to get a reckoning for the ODI team?

 

[scratch978]

I can't believe people are saying you need to replace Rahane with Jadeja? I mean seriously, what does Rahane needs to do to play 5 game in a row?

Though Rahane has talent, but there should be vacancy for him in the team.
In other words, Rahane is batting at a position, where ideally an all rounder like Kallis should bat.
Remember, how Dinesh Karthik was dropped from the ODI's(though he was in fine form) when Yuvraj(all rounder) was back into the form.

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With the amount of maturity shown by the youngsters in the current squad, I'm not sure, if there is any chance for Sehwag and Harbajan to make it to the squad any time in the near future. Gambhir's addition as the third opener would be interesting, as to who will be able to make it to the final 11.

 

[Epic]

Exactly, if at all they wanted to pick another spinner over Ashwin, Ojha would have been a better choice.

Both Jadeja and Ojha to me are hold an end down type of spinners, 1 of the 2 would've been really handy at the Wanderers.

I shudder to think of Ishant Sharma bowling on this wicket . Someone in the SA lineup is going to bat on and on here, might be Kallis or Amla who do that.

There does seem to be a bit of reverse swing around, something our specialists Zaheer and Shami can look to exploit.

Though Rahane has talent, but there should be vacancy for him in the team.
In other words, Rahane is batting at a position, where ideally an all rounder like Kallis should bat.
Remember, how Dinesh Karthik was dropped from the ODI's(though he was in fine form) when Yuvraj(all rounder) was back into the form.

An all-rounder is almost a necessity to an ODI side because of the 10 overs per player rule, no such limitations exist in Tests, and India since the retirement of Kapil Dev have played with 6 batsmen, 1 keeper and 4 bowlers, so it's nothing new to us.