India tour of South Africa

[Mijurkat]

bowled SA for under 200.

Some dreams never happen.

 

[aditya123]

Today's washout means that SA now are heading towards safety. If they bat two sessions or so, India won't have enough time to chase anything down. Even if they attempt to do so in the limited time available, that plays into SA's hands. I can only see one reault from here on.

 

[Satan666]

Not only India, every home team does. That is why they are called HOME TEAMS. They have control over the conditions of the pitch.

Yet no team have manipulated home conditions as India have done.[DOUBLEPOST=1515328444][/DOUBLEPOST]

Today's washout means that SA now are heading towards safety. If they bat two sessions or so, India won't have enough time to chase anything down. Even if they attempt to do so in the limited time available, that plays into SA's hands. I can only see one reault from here on.

I agree with you here, the Steyn factor though mayve carved out a win for SA.

 

[aditya123]

It is appalling as to how frequently we have mopping equipment malfunction in cricket. Outside of England, Australia and SL, so much time is lost so often in malfunctiining supersoppers and bad drainage. For an iconic stadium like Newlands to not be ready for a situation like today is sad for test cricket which struggles for attention otherwise. For once, we have an intriguing contest and what we have are supersoppers which aren't functioning properly.[DOUBLEPOST=1515329342][/DOUBLEPOST]To lose a whole day's play to a drizzle is shameful.

 

[namin96]

Yet no team have manipulated home conditions as India have done.[DOUBLEPOST=1515328444][/DOUBLEPOST]

What? So Eng doesn't manipulate their home conditions? Eng does it the most, they prepare pitches that are damp with a lot of moisture which results in test matches ending inside 3 days. It has happened during the Ashes, against SA, against India and any other subcontinent teams. So England can get away with that? And lets not forget that the weather in India is always usually hot, hotter than in other cricket playing nation. The groundsman can only do so much before the sun pretty much breaks the pitch down and the ball starts turning.

[DOUBLEPOST=1515337589][/DOUBLEPOST]

Today's washout means that SA now are heading towards safety. If they bat two sessions or so, India won't have enough time to chase anything down. Even if they attempt to do so in the limited time available, that plays into SA's hands. I can only see one reault from here on.

Do you think it could still be a tight finish?

 

[Satan666]

It is appalling as to how frequently we have mopping equipment malfunction in cricket. Outside of England, Australia and SL, so much time is lost so often in malfunctiining supersoppers and bad drainage. For an iconic stadium like Newlands to not be ready for a situation like today is sad for test cricket which struggles for attention otherwise. For once, we have an intriguing contest and what we have are supersoppers which aren't functioning properly.[DOUBLEPOST=1515329342][/DOUBLEPOST]To lose a whole day's play to a drizzle is shameful.

Thats the result of the SA board of control running into financial problems because of the ‘Big 3’ eating the largest plate of paneer and spinach![DOUBLEPOST=1515337904][/DOUBLEPOST]

[DOUBLEPOST=1515337589][/DOUBLEPOST]

Do you think it could still be a tight finish?

Cant see SA batting strong enough to wager. Probably if they had Steyn still they could defend a small total with a gutsy declaration.

 

[namin96]

So you basically admitted and agreed that India indeed manipulate pitches for home matches. Great. Lets move on.


I still think Kohli is overall a better batsman than Smith/Root, that being said for all three guys have not been tested too much by quality fast bowling.
Smith and Kohli have both struggled in England when the ball was swinging.


Root failed in Aus against Starc and co and now we wait to see Kohli’s failure, flr what its worth I hope he bats well in the remainder of the series.

When you say the manipulated the pitch conditions, every home team does that. That's called an advantage for the home team so don't make it sound like Indian is the only one that does it and you didn't really need to say "manipulated the pitch conditions", they've got every right to do so when they're the home team.

Smith and Kohli have both struggled in England when the ball was swinging.

I think he's going to fail the whole series. Just too much nonsense aggression crap. No ability to perform when needed the most.

 

[namin96]

Agreed. But most of the frustration is due to the fact that we have much better resources available at disposal and we chose the personnel least equipped to make an impact here. Rahul in place of Dhawan, Rahane for Rohit and Umesh/Ishant for Bumrah would make it a much mote solid test lineup. Also, the reason we are so downright dejected is because the guys playing in the XI are proven test failures overseas while those siting outside have a good record against high quality pace in testing situations. Rohit or Dhawan have never played anything close to Rahane or Rahul's efforts I will list below:

Rahane's hundreds at Wellington (2014), MCG, Lords and a near hundred at Durban came against the likes of Anderson, Broad, Boult, Starc, Johnson, Steyn and co. Even if you look at who stood out in tough situations at home or even in the tours to SL and WI, it was either him or Pujara in most cases. Those twin hundreds on a really tough wicket at Delhi, a really fighting second innings hundred at Colombo on a green track coming in with early wickets down. A couple of other hundreds in the Caribbean when others had fallen as well as a few really crucial knocks under immense pressure against Australia at home earlier this year. Its essentially that home series against SL where he failed and most of them were with the side trying to set up a declaration. Sharma might look a million dollars when there is no context to the game (exactly the situation in the SL series) and that is all there is to him.

Now coming to Rahul. The man scores 80s and 90s against an Aussie attack consisting of Hazelwood, Starc, Cummins and Lyon on some treacherous tracks which aided both seam and spin at home and also has hundreds on spicy tracks in the WI and SL to go with his maiden hundred at the SCG. He geta replaced after a streak of 8 consecutive 50s by a flat track bully in Dhawan who is a proven liability. We fans are not just speculating, its a really educated, logical point that makes Rahane and Rahul's inclusions a no-brainer.

Let me not even get started with Bumrah's inclusion. Yadav bowled some exceptional spells on dead tracks at home and had close to a dozen catches put down by our slip cordon. He got the most crucial breakthroughs at vital times against England and also cut through the Aussie batting a few months ago. Yet, a defensive back of length T20 bowler in Bumrah becomes our management's first choice.

We have the resources to run SA close in SA but if we keep selecting based on our captain's friendships, we will get whitewashed. Had these three played, at least one of them would have come good and we would have a much closer test right now. Knowing our captain and how big an ego maniac he and our coach arez I don't expect a course correction in thr next test either.

To be honest, I was actually pretty impressed with Rohit yesterday. His judgment in the morning was great, I thought he'd be an easy wicket but he once again got out to a fast one that came in. I do think he has the ability to go after any sort of bowling after he goes past the first 30-40 mins in test matches. But I also don't see why Rahul and Rahane are not in the lineup, and I think we really missed Yadav while trying to clean up their tail.

 

[Satan666]

When you say the manipulated the pitch conditions, every home team does that. That's called an advantage for the home team so don't make it sound like Indian is the only one that does it and you didn't really need to say "manipulated the pitch conditions", they've got every right to do so when they're the home team.

Smith and Kohli have both struggled in England when the ball was swinging.

I think he's going to fail the whole series. Just too much nonsense aggression crap. No ability to perform when needed the most.[/QUOTE
https://www.google.com/amp/s/arynews.tv/en/pune-india-pitch-sting-operation/amp/

Just to refresh your memory on the level if manipulation taking place in India

 

[SaiSrini]

Chances of an Indian win have been reduced quite a bit but I still wouldn't say it has been ruled out. The pace at which the game moved in the first two days, it was pretty damn fast. Even though we lost an entire day to rain, SA are just 142 ahead. One collapse in the morning session of Day 4 (I know I am being optimistic; but not entirely misplaced) can still get India a target of 250 odd in around 5 to 5.5 sessions and that's chaseable. I would say for India to dream of winning, they need to keep the target to 250 or even close to 300 and they can remain positive.

South Africa have lost Steyn and they have to make do with 4 bowlers (Philander, Morkel, Rabada and Maharaj). And the guy they lost (Steyn) is the one that initially made their bowling attack look very threatening. Steyn has that quality in him where he intimidates the opposition batting in home and seam friendly conditions. And if you lose him mid test match with an innings to go, it makes a big psychological difference. I would say SA should aim for a 350+ target to bat India out of the game. India should feel positive if target is <= 300.

 

[asprin]

I still don't know how some are of the opinion that an "Indian win" is out of the question after the rain. I would say that an Indian win was never on the cards once we folded for 200 odd. Even without Steyn, Rabada/Philander/Morkel and Maharaj are more than capable of dislodging this fragile batting lineup.

Umesh should be a certainty on SA pitches. Bumrah is not a Test bowler and Rahane sitting out is a joke. I'm still not sure about Rahul yet but the aforementioned players should not be warming the bench.

 

[RUDI]

Rain delay yesterday > not great for cricket fans > For the people living in and around Cape Town - a blessing. The Western Cape Province have been plagued with severe draught the past year, the worst in years. Hopefully the rain will help with the strict water restrictions apposed onto the people ...

 

[abhi_jacko]

Surprised to see people still expecting an Indian win here. South Africa are essentially 142/2 right now. We were 90/7 in the first innings. Expecting us to anything above 250 is being foolishly optimistic. We were equally terrorized by Rabada, Morkel and Philander as we were by Steyn. Rabada especially was spitting fire.

Our best bet would be salvaging a draw which would require a miracle as it is. We will have to bowl with incredible discipline and slow down SAF's scoring rate, and then bat out of our skins to play for a draw. Maybe helped by some more rain, although forecast looks clear from now on. Win is not happening.

 

[abhi_jacko]

And honestly, if we manage to snuff out the South African batting line up in another 150 off runs with our bowling line up, then God knows how few our batters will score against the Saffers

 

[aditya123]

Rabada might turn out to be a thorn in our flesh today. If he can see out this newish ball and the fresh conditions, the other batsmen would cash in big time. Although Shami has beat the bat a lot against Rabada, he is bowling a yard short here. Also, this round the wicket line so early is slightly perplexing. It rules out LBW and bowled

I'd try out Ashwin for a few overs here while Rabada is new at the crease. If we cannot get them to 100/5 or 6 here, I expect a quick scoring second session for SA with the likes of QDk cashing in.