India tour of South Africa

[zwarrior]

If there is anyone who can break the partnership, it's Shami.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Source - Cribuzz

Overheard at the fine leg fence, a fan in high “spirits” yelling at Bumrah - “How’s that IPL contract helping you here, son?” - pings Kau from the ground.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

A great session of test match cricket - first India started of superbly with the new ball to reduce SA for 12/3 and then South Africa counter-attacked with ABD leading the charge with a brilliant half century.Might be too early to say but the decision to play Bumrah ahead of Ishant/Umesh is turning out to be a bit of disappointment , important 2nd session for both sides will be interesting how Kohli uses Ashwin or how he bowl on this surface.

 

[aditya123]

I think this is SA's session despite the 3 wickets. Its nearing dangerous territory for India. We have to bowl them out for less than 280 to have any chance here. There is enough out there for the seamers and the SA bowlers will be much harder to fet away. Plus we have just 3 test class batsmen in the side in Vijay, Pujara and Kohli. Too many deadweights in the side for these conditions. I expect some carnage in the next 2 sessions if Shami doesn't turn up with the old ball. With these two and De Kock to follow, I see a 350/5 score at stumps today.

 

[CerealKiller]

Can Bhuvi reverse it? If yes, he could be really good on these tours.
Rahane out for Rohit? Seriously?

 

[aditya123]

Can Bhuvi reverse it? If yes, he could be really good on these tours.
Rahane out for Rohit? Seriously?

This is the Kohli and Friends XI. Kohli has said time and again that he enjoys Rohit's batting. I seriously doubt the judgement of Shastri/Kohli on quality.

What is with Pandya and Bumrah bowling in tandem just after lunch? When the batsmen are looking to settle in you bowl your best pair and not the weakest. Atrocious captaincy. It is like Kohli is trying to justify these selections. This is where you let test matches slip through the grasp. This is not the first time and this won`t certainly be the last.

Yes, we do have the arsenal to win overseas but not if we select sides like this.

 

[aditya123]

Can Bhuvi reverse it? If yes, he could be really good on these tours.
Rahane out for Rohit? Seriously?

I just can`t get over this fact. He might not have scored against SL but except for a couple of instances, he came in with there being no context to the game (350/3 like situations). Also, his record over more than a dozen tests overseas is second to none! Hard to fathom. In order to justify his selections, Kohli is ending up bowling Pandya for too many overs too early. With De Kock in, Ashwin must be brought in early. That has to be his role. No point feeding Pandya to De Kock and Faf at this stage.

 

[aditya123]

142/5 might look bad but it is as good as 220/5 on a good batting track in Australia/Asia. Philander can be a hard nut to crack and I feel QDK will go for his shots here. Its time to bring the frontline bowlers in to bowl and go for the kill. If these two settle in and take them to 230/6 like score at Tea, they`ll be in the box seat. These two are giving away way too many boundaries in between those wicket balls. We`ve been going at almost 5 r.p.o since those 3 early wickets. Need to change it up now.

We`ve been lucky to get those 2 wickets and their job is done. Kohli`s going overboard with this ploy. This is not a 400 v 400 match. SA have too good a bowling lineup for 400 to be par. 250 here is going to be a good first innings score and could even be big enough to fetch a big lead. Pandya has done his job. His job is not to bowl 10-over spells.

 

[Slowcoach]

Poor pitch, Philander will take 5-25 and India will lose, is not test standard.

 

[SaiSrini]

Horrible lineup for India, absolutely HORRENDOUS!! Bumrah over Yadav/Ishant? And the bigger one - Rahane dropped for an overseas test and for who? ROHIT SHARMA????

I feel like giving this game a skip. Absolute nonsense. When will we start differentiating home success and overseas success?

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Great game so far, so entertaining to watch. South Africa definitely not making full use of the conditions though.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Nonsensical approach from South Africa overall today. Started the game with arrogance and gave themselves no time to build. Top 7 could've easily made 350+.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Woah! Bhuvi despite getting 4 wickets going for more than 5 RPO and that Sh*thole Dhawan drops a catch again (might have been busy telling his good bud Kohli a Joke).

 

[SaiSrini]

If South Africa get to 300, I predict they will have more than enough runs to break India. India won't bat this fast and they will get a ball with their name on it and will get out.

 

[Slowcoach]

Look at the pitch, it was kicking off a length and seaming all over the place.
Bumrah was getting so much seam movement it was like leg breaks, he should have done better than 1-60 given the conditions.
South Africa have made par on this pitch, Philander will have a field day with the seam movement.
Pitch is not just grassy, also rough and will break up.