Indian tour of South Africa, December-January 2010/11

[jkartik]

Just my opinion on your analysis -

Dhoni - Cant be changed. We dont have an even closer option to Dhoni in the near vicnity. A 1-1 scoreline in SA is good enough, and maybe we might have done far better had he been given a warmup before the Centurion test. Not the time to be blaming Dhoni much.

hes a useless captain and more often than not, a useless batsman!

his tactics are wayy too defensive, he doesnt come up with any plans whatsoever(as admitted by him), he doesnt believe or support his bowlers both on and off the field, his technique on lively pitches is just flawed, hardly a pro-active captain...just keeps to himself...i could go on and on!

its a pity theres no worthy competitor for him like how dada had with dravid and kumble. he would've lost his captaincy long ago.............

 

[mohit_dude10]

Would be a tough one to pick man of the series. I reckon Kallis should be awared for his match winning performances in Centurion and Match saving twin centuries at cape town. Steyn is also strong contender but he has got wickets on the most helpful conditions and Kallis has scored both his 100 in this test in testing condition and dire situations.

 

[Adarsh]

Day 5 pitch providing the most turn Harris is ever going to get in his life, with PLENTY of rough...the same pitch where Harby got 7 wickets - he's got zero. He's not going to get any more rough than this. There have been a few right armers, left armers, bowling from every angle over and around. Commentators chatting rubbish that Harris doesn't have enough rough. Well sorry, this is all the rough you're ever going to get ! What do you want, rough on a good length in the middle of the wicket so that Harris can pitch it there ?! As a left armer you need to turn the ball off the straight too. You're never going to get rough in the middle of the wicket so that you can attack the right handed batsmen from there.

What did I say earlier ? South Africa are pretty much a one man bowler. Morkel is good, but he's good when he's supporting Steyn. When Steyn has an off day I don't think Morkel has it in him to provide the goods. Tsotsobe is steady, nothing more. Harris is steady. Kallis is steady. They don't quite have the perfect seam attack South Africa. However, what you can say is that they don't give up. The Indian seam attack gives up quite early and when things don't go their way they go very flat. The Saffers keep trying. And of course, Steyn's a genius.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

team of the series? fitting but I split it pretty even 6-5 to india, which seems unfair because SA tanked india in the first match, but one or two of the spots were very tight.

Gambhir - only opener that achieved anything of note.
Peterson - I picked him because he held on a little longer than Smith. but really, could have picked Smith or even Sehwag. they were all largely poor.
Tendulkar - 2 more tons, india's most consistent middle order batsman yet again.
Kallis - 3 tons, has been a mammoth obstacle than india haven't really got the hang of. Have relied on pure dumb luck to get him out on occassions and the best ball that sreesanths ever bowled. broke the double hundred duck too.
Laxman - patchy tour but his 96 in the 2nd test is the main reason India will leave south africa having answered a lot of critics. Was another decisive innings from a player who seems to be able to score when no one else can.
Prince - proved to be a rock in south africa's lower order, just as india were dreaming of getting into a shakey Boucher and the relatively weak tail, he came in and spoiled it.
Dhoni - could have lost out to boucher due to his pretty average captaincy, but his 90 in the first test allowed india to at least feel like they had arrived in south africa and were ready to compete. scored crucial runs in the 2nd test, which is why he edges boucher. Boucher's best innings came in the 3rd which will likely only earn SA a draw.
Harbhajan - very important 40 in the 3rd, but really takes this spot because Harris provides no competition as a spinner.
Khan - important runs in the 2nd test, helped india's whole attack morph from a bunch of pie-chuckers into a reasonably able bowling unit.
Morkel - troubled india throughout with his bounce, his 5-fer in the first test put india on the back foot instantly and set up the match.
Steyn - Sreesanth pushed him close for this spot nah, no-brainer. basically re-affirmed his position as the best pace bowler in the world. Asif and Amir had looked to discredit that a little and Steyn had merely picked it up by default after their suspensions, but this series he was a brute and often unplayable.

 

[relentless_rock]

hes a useless captain and more often than not, a useless batsman!

his tactics are wayy too defensive, he doesnt come up with any plans whatsoever(as admitted by him), he doesnt believe or support his bowlers both on and off the field, his technique on lively pitches is just flawed, hardly a pro-active captain...just keeps to himself...i could go on and on!

its a pity theres no worthy competitor for him like how dada had with dravid and kumble. he would've lost his captaincy long ago.............

Gambhir is still underdeveloped. But I see him as a prospect. I always admired the calm collected approach of Dhoni but too much of everything is bad. Hes just too laidback as captain and one even wonders if he comes with plans at all on field if initial plans fail. Far from an ideal captain.

True that we just don't have an immediate replacement and would have to contain with on/off performances from India, when ideally they should be making more of their current team.

 

[SaiSrini]

Its a drawn series. Thank god shravi (or sohum)'s prediction for the third test didnt come out to be true. We leave SA without having lost the series for the first time. Great achievement after having been drubbed at Centurion. Though I wish we could have won the last test had we been a little more aggressive in the second innings with our bowling.

 

[Cricketman]

Disappointing really. We had them on the mat at 166/6 or whatever. Really wasn't expecting that rear guard innings from Boucher.

But its OK, I will take a draw. A win would have silenced all critics, but this has been a heartening performance all series and I think we have answered many of them. Apart from Day 1 Centurion, we weren't really plummeted/drubbed the way everyone was claiming. I thought our batsman responded well to the very alien conditions and the threat of Steyn.

Looking forward to the ODIs. Raina will get his chance again, lets see if he can perform. More than anything it is all about momentum from here, as the World Cup is our next big assignment.

 

[McLOVIN]

wow! What a ████ ending to what could've been a great test. I can't believe they didn't go after it, and they are just happy with 1-1. If any team were to chase a 300+ score on day 5, I'd would pick India's batting line-up to do so. If there is any line-up, it has to be them. All their batsmen are in form! What is they're problem.

Both teams are happy with a draw! I was really glad when SAs 10th wicket fell at the end of day 4, because if it didn't Smith wouldn't have declared any time soon.

 

[sohum]

On a day when we needed him to play aggressively, is this how he plays? So he knows to play the slow game, but he just doesnt do it when we need him to. Moronic! Sehwag is just so over hyped. He is not any legend of the game. Just a player who makes hay while the sun shines.

Who said Sehwag is a legend of the game? How do you know he wasn't instructed to play a certain way? If anything, he helped the team out by surviving long enough to take some of the shine off the new ball which, in hindsight, made things easier for our brittle middle order.

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...but I want to see Gambhir score a really tough hundred on a pitch that does quite a bit.

What kind of a yardstick is that? If you noticed in the second Test, the only bloke to even cross 50 (in fact, 40) was VVS Laxman and even he didn't get a 100. You shouldn't expect a guy to have to score a hundred in difficult conditions to be considered a good player or up to scratch.

Gambhir did what was asked of him as an opener--stay in as long as possible to take the shine off the new ball. Really, that's the traditional role of openers. To stick around as long as possible so that when the scoring middle order comes in, the ball is not moving around and the bowlers are tired.

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wow! What a ████ ending to what could've been a great test. I can't believe they didn't go after it, and they are just happy with 1-1. If any team were to chase a 300+ score on day 5, I'd would pick India's batting line-up to do so. If there is any line-up, it has to be them. All their batsmen are in form! What is they're problem.

Except for Sehwag, Dravid and Pujara.

It all came down to the start. If Sehwag didn't get off to a flyer going for the win was never and shouldn't have ever been on the cards. Chasing 350 on a 5th day pitch against a good bowling attack is not as easy as you make it seem.

 

[War]

Last year, SA in IND got the result 1-1.

This year, IND in SA is probs going to get the result 1-1.

Not much separating these two teams.

Ye basically.

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Day 5 pitch providing the most turn Harris is ever going to get in his life, with PLENTY of rough...the same pitch where Harby got 7 wickets - he's got zero. He's not going to get any more rough than this. There have been a few right armers, left armers, bowling from every angle over and around. Commentators chatting rubbish that Harris doesn't have enough rough. Well sorry, this is all the rough you're ever going to get ! What do you want, rough on a good length in the middle of the wicket so that Harris can pitch it there ?! As a left armer you need to turn the ball off the straight too. You're never going to get rough in the middle of the wicket so that you can attack the right handed batsmen from there.

Ye Harris didn't utilise the conditions. He has officially become S Africa's haurtiz. At least SA have Imran Tahir coming in now for them.

What did I say earlier ? South Africa are pretty much a one man bowler. Morkel is good, but he's good when he's supporting Steyn. When Steyn has an off day I don't think Morkel has it in him to provide the goods. Tsotsobe is steady, nothing more. Harris is steady. Kallis is steady. They don't quite have the perfect seam attack South Africa. However, what you can say is that they don't give up. The Indian seam attack gives up quite early and when things don't go their way they go very flat. The Saffers keep trying. And of course, Steyn's a genius.

As myself & many have higlighted before in this thread. SA bowling attack is only like this because better players who would certainly make it really top quality. Aren't being picked due to a unofficial quota policy.

 

[SaiSrini]

Who said Sehwag is a legend of the game? How do you know he wasn't instructed to play a certain way? If anything, he helped the team out by surviving long enough to take some of the shine off the new ball which, in hindsight, made things easier for our brittle middle order

What kind of a yardstick is that? If you noticed in the second Test, the only bloke to even cross 50 (in fact, 40) was VVS Laxman and even he didn't get a 100. You shouldn't expect a guy to have to score a hundred in difficult conditions to be considered a good player or up to scratch.

Gambhir did what was asked of him as an opener--stay in as long as possible to take the shine off the new ball. Really, that's the traditional role of openers. To stick around as long as possible so that when the scoring middle order comes in, the ball is not moving around and the bowlers are tired.

Except for Sehwag, Dravid and Pujara.

It all came down to the start. If Sehwag didn't get off to a flyer going for the win was never and shouldn't have ever been on the cards. Chasing 350 on a 5th day pitch against a good bowling attack is not as easy as you make it seem.

I dont think we have that brittle a middle order. Gambhir, Dravid, Sachin and Laxman batted well enough to survive today. If Sehwag had tried his usual rollicking start and it clicked, maybe we might have given thoughts of going after the target. It was not an impossible target (yes it was tough, but apart from Steyn, their bowling has not been very threatening).

Gambhir is good, but I would reserve judgement on him because he didnt play the toughest test of the series, and he failed in Centurion when the conditions were challenging. But he has had a good series with the bat and its good for him and the team.

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wow! What a ████ ending to what could've been a great test. I can't believe they didn't go after it, and they are just happy with 1-1. If any team were to chase a 300+ score on day 5, I'd would pick India's batting line-up to do so. If there is any line-up, it has to be them. All their batsmen are in form! What is they're problem.

Both teams are happy with a draw! I was really glad when SAs 10th wicket fell at the end of day 4, because if it didn't Smith wouldn't have declared any time soon.

I atleast expected Sehwag to go after it. But I understand their approach. Having never even tied a series in SA before, they wanted to make sure they dont lose the series. A 1-1 scoreline is an achievement for them (they were expected to be rolled over when they came here) Same with SA. They didnt want India to win the series and embarass them (Steyn said that they would take the safety first approach). Both teams didnt want to lose the series, and so they settled for the draw.

 

[sohum]

I fully expect we would have lost wickets if we'd tried to score runs.

In hindsight, Sehwag did the right thing. Scoring a quick 15-20 and getting out in the 3rd over would have done nothing in the context of the game and they'd still have the new ball.

It looked like he was trying to play himself in before looking for his shots and got out soon after he started looking for his shots.

 

[SaiSrini]

Looking forward to the ODIs. Raina will get his chance again, lets see if he can perform. More than anything it is all about momentum from here, as the World Cup is our next big assignment.

Vijay and Tendulkar will open for India in the first few ODI's (with no Sehwag or Gambhir). I am not expecting anything from Raina or Yusuf Pathan (both of whom have serious shortcomings against the short ball and more helpful conditions for bowlers). My XI for the first ODI would be:

M Vijay
S Tendulkar
V Kohli
Y Singh
MS Dhoni
S Raina
Y Pathan
H Singh
Z Khan
P Kumar
M Patel

Would be a better option to play either Ashwin or Chawla in place of Yusuf, but Yusuf will play after that hundred against NZ.

 

[War]

Good Sehwag has fully failed in the 2nd innings, the series is done. Now we can go back to lively discussion on him.

lol. it's always the same.

warne and mcgrath were injured blah blah blah.

SMH. This is quite a ridiculous way to look at this. How could you behave with such a dont care attitude just because McGrath & Warne weren;'t present??.

In the AUS glory years between 1995-2006/07, the reason they where so great & why it was impossible for batsmen to score runs in AUS was because of them. So quite clearly them not being present when Sehwag scored all those runs in 03/04 (coincidentally the only time in those 11 years when both of McWarne didn't play in a home AUS series) is significant.

Esepcially when you consider in the 2004 tour to IND when AUS fully fit attack kept Sehwag quiet & recently in IND 2010 another kept him quiet.

All the runs Sehwag scores vs AUS in 03/04, 2008 in IND & Adelaide 2008. Where againts joke AUS attacks on flat roads.

The only opener that went to AUS & was so dominant againts McWarne was Vaughan in 2002/03

we're talking about being a "flat" track bully, not playing good bowlers, and not exclusively against fast bowling, not exclusively green pitches. all "conditions" that are difficult to bat in. so stop trying to make this about something else.


you don't think his 201* in sri lanka where the rest of the team manageg 148 between them was a good knock? that is the sort of innings of a sub par batsman? you don't think the big 50s he hit against australia and then england in the 2nd innings were good scores? I mean seriously?

The reason Sehwag is called a FTB is because of failures againts fast bowling on bouncy/green pitches. Everyone knows he is very good againts quality spin on turners.

So the 201 in SRI atlhough a brilliant innings wouldn't fit the criteria of criticism.

Matt Hayden had that same problem of being good againts quality spin, but struggling againts quality new-ball bowling. Before he corrected (or rather went back to his style he laerned in AUS domestic cricket in the 90s) post Ashes 2005.

and ok clarke, hayden and hussey have all got averages hugely better in aus than outside. where did I say anything about fast bowling? I'm talking about being one dimensional as a player, unable to adapt. I dunno, but there was something holding these guys back from making much impact anywhere, you're lucky if they average much above 40 anywhere except australia, where they have 60 plus averages.

Well i haven't checked yet. But i dont recall many any series when they where in top form where Clarke, Hayden or Hussey had the kind of series againts the moving ball againts quality new-ball bowling anywhere. In which they averaged abysmally (sub 20-25) like Sehwag has done over the course of their careers.

Even if their averages @ home would be bigger than away.

 

[Adarsh]

Oh God, not this again.