India tour of South Africa - 2013/14

[barmyarmy]

It's hard to find enough superlatives for Kallis. Even without his bowling he would be one of the greatest test batsmen of all time - his average higher than Tendulkar, Ponting and Lara - but with his bowling he edges out Sobers for me as the greatest test all rounder ever.
Farewell Jacques.

 

[surendar]

Completely disappointed with Dhawan. He should have played his natural game, with kiwi tour next I really like to see someone in the top to stay solid. This guy needs bit more time to tweak himself.

With 2 wickets gone, just want to see our batters playing their natural game. That's the only way they can go past & build some lead. If they are going to stay negative with eating up deliveries, one collapse would make way to 10-50 runs target for SA! Geez, lets make the match lively!

 

[harishankar]

Have to question Dhoni's negative tactics today. Very poor. Almost gave SA the message that India don't want to win this match even before conceding a lead. Even though I said that Dhoni might try this today, I feel it is negative cricket. Yes, he doesn't want to lose the match, but then you don't want to give the impression to the opposition.

Don't want to sound over dramatic, but Indian test cricket might go back a few notches with this kind of game. If India lose, I think the whole team will be demoralized terribly.

In spite of all that Dhoni has achieved, I would love to see somebody like Kohli take over Test captaincy.

 

[surendar]

Atleast bowling its understandable as our pacers didn't have much to do on this wicket, but one of the strong batting line ups going for defensive mode is equivalent to stocking all your powerful weapons in underground for safety & trying to outsmart your enemy with simple sword in the war! This just doesn't work all the time.

Anyway one psychological positive - trail margin is now in 2 digits, only positive of this whole day from team India.

 

[SaiSrini]

Disappointed with the way India have played. The bowling has been completely ineffective this match. It seems to underline the new sentiment that if India needs to be kept down, the Indian fast bowlers should not get too much purchase from the wicket and conditions. When there is purchase, we look a lot more competitive. Wonder how a Yadav or an Aaron would have done on this wicket.

Survival is possible here, but not by just sticking to the wicket. Pujara and Kohli need to keep the scoreboard ticking tomorrow and should play sportive cricket. That's the best way to survive. I am guessing Kohli is not the guy who would just bat out deliveries and not look to score at a fair clip. Pujara too, once he gets in, he has shown to move at a pretty quick rate. These two guys along with Rahane and Dhoni are key for us tomorrow to bat out this test match. I hope we don't miss Ashwin tomorrow. Ashwin is one other batsman who can stick to the wicket and score at a decent clip.

Coming out of this SA tour without a series defeat in the tests would be a big victory for India! They just need to bat out one single day (with some help from weather/light expected) to achieve that. Hope they don't throw this away. India have fought very well with the resources/team they have had

 

[asprin]

Another disappointing day for India. Doesn't look like a draw is on the cards now as batting under pressure will be pretty difficult. I reckon SA might end up needing 30-70 runs to win the match.

Gonna miss Kallis - who I consider to be the best all rounder to have played the game during his era, if not all time great.

 

[SaiSrini]

Even if India lose tomorrow, I think the boys will come out with their heads held high. They have displayed enough grit and determination in this series to inspire confidence for the future. We have pushed SA enough this test, and we dominated for the majority of the first test. The batting lineup is slowly falling into place (barring Rohit Sharma's failure; I would persist with Dhawan) and the bowling has impressed for most part.

If we can win one final day, it would be magnificient, but even if we lose, there's nothing to sulk about.

 

[surendar]

If we loose for 1 day, the fight which we put up in SA soil for 9 days would loose its shine though we can still be proud for not letting SA to do a cake walk!

All we require is one day of batting dominance by us which is definitely within reachable limits if we maintain our positive energy level.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

for me yadav needs to play providing there are no injury concerns. india's bowling line up is still a little toothless and needs someone that can ruffle the feathers of the opposition and take wickets. even if he is a little inconsistent at times the variety he provides would be worth the gamble.

Rohit is the only batsman that's really failed, dhawan needs to go back and look at his game a little but even if he isn't going to score against SAF away it's not a reason to drop him providing he can turn it on against weaker attacks. it's always a bonus having a batsman that can score 50s and 100s at breakneck speed.

it's not the worst thing in the world rohit failing either, the one criticism I'd have of india is all there batsmen are around the same age, they all have years in them of course, it doesn't hurt to have a position under pressure that will keep some of the other fringe players interested in taking a position. with players like mukund, chand, Jiwanjot Singh, mandeep singh, menaria etc india don't want to close the doors to selection for the next 5 years.

 

[War]

It's hard to find enough superlatives for Kallis. Even without his bowling he would be one of the greatest test batsmen of all time - his average higher than Tendulkar, Ponting and Lara - but with his bowling he edges out Sobers for me as the greatest test all rounder ever.
Farewell Jacques.

Sorry my friend - he is not.

 

[playkid12]

Why exactly do you want our best Test batsman to waste time wrecking his technique playing a dying format?

Because it's not going to "wreck" his technique. It didn't wreck Dravid's, Tendulkar's, or anyone else that comes to mind for that matter. Also, outside of the Ashes, Test cricket is a dying format as well. Cricket, in general, is a dying sport.

 

[Cricketman]

Because it's not going to "wreck" his technique. It didn't wreck Dravid's, Tendulkar's, or anyone else that comes to mind for that matter. Also, outside of the Ashes, Test cricket is a dying format as well. Cricket, in general, is a dying sport.

this is the most depressing thing i've read ever

 

[scratch978]

It is the last day of India's tour of South Africa.

The hosts are still in front and India need to show every ounce of their fighting skills if they are to complete what will be a creditable series draw.
South Africa will have a fair crack at the Indian batsmen.

 

[asprin]

Even if India lose tomorrow, I think the boys will come out with their heads held high. They have displayed enough grit and determination in this series to inspire confidence for the future. We have pushed SA enough this test, and we dominated for the majority of the first test. The batting lineup is slowly falling into place (barring Rohit Sharma's failure; I would persist with Dhawan) and the bowling has impressed for most part.

If we can win one final day, it would be magnificient, but even if we lose, there's nothing to sulk about.

Not that I don't agree on India making SA work more than expected, but I don't think consoling ourselves with that is the right thing to do. If the players feel the same way, I don't think this side will make much progress in future. Imagine them saying, "We gave them a good fight, that's enough for us" .... there needs to be a killer instinct in each of them to reach the top.

 

[scratch978]

When is India going to support DRS ?

The ball just grazed Kohli's shoulder, there was no bat on that. Kohli must consider himself unlucky, but this is where DRS would have been handy.
When is India going to support DRS ?