India tour of South Africa

[Rehan_24]

I am happy that dismissing kohli from captaincy talks will laid to rest for sometime. Even if SA would have done a clean sweep, dismissing Kohli from captaincy would be highly unfair. Shastri as coach is different story though.

It's a well fought out win on a tough pitch. Good game by India. I saw last few overs today and some glimpses during this entire match

 

[Velocity]

Great victory by India. Really showed grit and determination in that match. Outplayed South Africa throughout and well deserved victory. It was great to see Shami back at his best again. He really ran in and made the difference in SA losing the game. At 153/5, it was anyone's game. Great to see a well deserved 5 fer by him.

This match only proves that we can win games if we pick our best players. It has been increasingly frustrating watching Rohit getting eaten up by the SA seamers. Rahane just shown how valuble he is to the side with that cheeky 48. I really hope to see of Rohit Sharma in test matches. I hope Kohli and Shastri learn a lesson here on this tour. India honestly had the potential to win the series 2-1 if the right selections were made and preparation was good. Neither ticked the boxes, leading to them losing the series. Overall we have a good pace attack, with different bowlers and I believe we can do well in England and Australia if our batting clicks with the bowling. The team did a good job in adapting to the conditions after the first two tests.
This would be the ideal lineup for the overseas tours:

Vijay
Rahul/Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Pandya/Ashwin/(outside chance Karun Nair)
Parthiv/Saha
Bhuvi
Shami
Umesh/Ishant
Bumrah

I believe Bhuvi should bat at 8. It's no good making him bat at 9 or 10. He is a very good batsman and India should look to make him their Chris Woakes. He impressed with those 30 odd runs in every game he played in. Bumrah was superb considering it is his first Test series, that too in SA.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Lets take a look at the stats.

Most Runs in the series - 286 runs Virat Kohli greater by 75 runs (AB De Villers is second most run getter)
Most Wickets in the sereis - 15 wickets - Philander, Rabada & Shami (Jasprit Bumrah is second with 14 wickets)

I would say we did pretty well. Virat Kohli shut some critics by this batting. Now onto England to score some runs. If Virat scores runs in England he would prove himself a better batsman than Smith as Smith is not upto the point in ODI's.

 

[Rehan_24]

I think Smith is far ahead to Kohli as far as test matches statistics are concerned. Though It would be great to see the clash between Anderson and Kohli in the England tour and this tour will be the test case for Kohli to perform great in the overseas conditions.

 

[abhi_jacko]

I don't want to get too optimistic about this win, but this was a very good win. Very different from previous overseas victories which gives me hope for the future overseas tours. Mainly, this win has come after we have already lost the series. Usually when we lose the series, our attitude changes completely. Shoulders droop, the willingness to perform takes a beating, and there is no intent to win which in the end carries over to the ODI series that follows. But here, the hunger seemed greater to salvage something from this series. To prove their critics wrong and show that this team is capable to pulling off wins overseas.

I am hopeful for the ODI series to an extent now

 

[abhi_jacko]

And just to add, Rahane once again proved his value. His innings pushed the advantage in our favor and lets not forget the two catches he took.

 

[SaiSrini]

Rahane should stay in the test XI on multiple counts.

1) He is a solid batsman with the technique suited for challenging conditions overseas. Does not matter if he fails in India, because come overseas, he brings out his 'A' game. The thing with him is, in home conditions he lowers his guard because he thinks its too easy and when he does that, he is prone to some failures. But come overseas and tough conditions, he is primed up and most often succeeds. Weird guy but he is someone we all would crave to have!

2) In an era of shoddy slip catching, Rahane is a very safe hand at slips. Much like how Dravid was in the slips (Rahane not yet in Dravid's class; but he is almost as safe). To build good slip fielders, you need to select them consistently in order to nurture slip fielders.

3) Rahane is captaincy material. He is the official vice captain of the test team. He is ahead of Pujara and Vijay on that count. If you are a vice captain, it means you are a permanent member of the side and it makes no sense to keep this player out.

I am not too sure on Pandya. After a fluky innings of 93 (in which he had two lives), he was a failure. And in swinging conditions of England, he could be eaten up alive. He could bat better in Australia where there is not much movement but again his bowling there wont be anywhere as effective. So I would say India might do well having Ashwin as the 6th batsman and pick 5 specialist bowlers (Kumar has shown he is a solid bat).

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Rahane should stay in the test XI on multiple counts.

I am not too sure on Pandya. After a fluky innings of 93 (in which he had two lives), he was a failure. And in swinging conditions of England, he could be eaten up alive. He could bat better in Australia where there is not much movement but again his bowling there wont be anywhere as effective. So I would say India might do well having Ashwin as the 6th batsman and pick 5 specialist bowlers (Kumar has shown he is a solid bat).

I would not have Ashwin at 6. I think what we need is DK keeping wickets in tests and him occupying no.7. We need to have or at least start tours with 6 proper batters, 1 WK, 3 quicks and a spinner. I think our batting will always be prone to collapses and DK @ 7, Ashwin 8 and Bhuvi 9 just keeps it all very solid and secure. I also know how Ashwin's mind works and I'd have him solely concentrate on his bowling. I think he's got so much natural talent with the bat that he doesn't need to have the thought put in his head that runs are expected of him at 6. Also, as good as he is, he's not very compact in defence and more of a stroke maker so I just don't feel that security. The main reason I would go with 6 batters is that I feel the 5th bowler is perpetually under bowled. If Pandya can make a case as a proper number 6 who could may be give me overs then okay, but his prime duty is to give the side runs. Otherwise, I feel that position should go to Nair.

 

[Villain]

What a win that was! You can't keep Bhuvi and Rahane out, and what a brilliant spell by Shami. One of the best and sweetest win over the years where we showed courage and skill to snatch this one, more to come - ODI series.

 

[Gaurav_7]

ABD ruled out of first 3 ODIs due to finger injury. India's chances of doing better in ODIs also improved with that.

 

[Satan666]

ABD ruled out of first 3 ODIs due to finger injury. India's chances of doing better in ODIs also improved with that.

Blessing in disguised for SA, AB is overatted!

 

[abhi_jacko]

The biggest conundrum for Indias test Xl had to be Shami. He starts of so poor and almost looks like hr doesnt belong. But then a totally different Shami shows up in the second innings and seems unstoppable

He needs to work on his first innings blues

 

[Yash.]

Onto the ODIs, here’s the lineup I want to see....

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Virat Kohli
4. MS Dhoni
5. Shreyas Iyer
6. Manish Pandey
7. Hardik Pandya
8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Mohommad Shami

But we know Shastri. He will play Jadhav instead of Iyer and Manish Pandey and will never play Dhoni at 4. I still dont know why. Also, I think we would go with two spinners instead of one.

 

[SaiSrini]

Onto the ODIs, here’s the lineup I want to see....

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Virat Kohli
4. MS Dhoni
5. Shreyas Iyer
6. Manish Pandey
7. Hardik Pandya
8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Mohommad Shami

But we know Shastri. He will play Jadhav instead of Iyer and Manish Pandey and will never play Dhoni at 4. I still dont know why. Also, I think we would go with two spinners instead of one.

Agree with that XI, instead I would actually play Jadhav instead of Iyer. I don't see Iyer as a significant big hitter who needs to provide the thrust at the bottom of the innings. Jadhav is no superstar too, but he can get the big hits going at the end better than Iyer. Except for that, the rest of your XI looks ideal.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Jadhav is no superstar agreed but that guy has some serious potential and the world has also seen some of it till now. I am so confident in him because I have seen him play in RL and he is a pocket sized dynamite!