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

[McLOVIN]

I went to bed right after AB got his 100. I was loling with my sleepy eyes, when I saw Dhoni bring his fielders in when AB was on 99*. AB was smirking. Did Dhoni really think he was gonna stop AB from getting a 100. Ab smashed Raina's loser ass out the park. "Get that ████ outta here"

Also saw Sachin bowl a bit. Damn, it's been a while

 

[Params7]

I see the haters are having a field day. Enjoy it while it lasts. I feel now that we know the conditions here we'll be much stronger in the second test..at least our batting. Bowling will probably be the factor in all our losses.

India can still draw this though. 200 from Dravid, Laxman, Sachin each now please. Raina, Dhoni, Bhajji as backups. I'm not sleeping tonight.

Params7 added 2 Minutes and 49 Seconds later...

Oh and F yeah Kallis. He was always my favorite all rounder for a reason.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I think india's problem will be that while their main batsmen should be able to cope with this pitch, the stamina required to bat under that pressure for that long will be massive, not so sure two 37 year olds and a 36 year old will be up to it. It's a lot different to scoring a double ton when you're coasting in the 1st innings, even if the pitch is lifeless. And their tail, which has been quite good will struggle in unfamiliar conditions.

Harbhajan his a good no.8, but as a non-specialist I doubt he'll be able to score anywhere near as well on foreign pitches.

 

[pcfan123]

India can still draw this though. 200 from Dravid, Laxman, Sachin each now please. Raina, Dhoni, Bhajji as backups. I'm not sleeping tonight.

The realistic Indian fan

 

[McLOVIN]

Bowling will probably be the factor in all our losses.

That's exactly what people are saying (also the fact that flat track bullies got crumbled in the 1st inn). I guess that makes them haters but when you say it, it's fine..

 

[Params7]

That's exactly what people are saying (also the fact that flat track bullies got crumbled in the 1st inn). I guess that makes them haters but when you say it, it's fine..

Calm down brah I was joking, I can feel the happiness oozing from some "Where is your No.1 India now HERP DERP" posts. But its true anyways, when I say it, it is fine.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

fan wise, I love the contrast between england fans "lost a wicket, we might as well just go home now" and india's "we can still win, we only need every player to score a double hundred and to bundle south africa out for less than 50"

 

[SaiSrini]

fan wise, I love the contrast between england fans "lost a wicket, we might as well just go home now" and india's "we can still win, we only need every player to score a double hundred and to bundle south africa out for less than 50"

Thinking about victory for India in this ongoing test is not even in our minds. We are not that foolish. We believe India can save this test, and thats not unrealistic. The pitch seems to be playing far better than how it was on Day 1, and our batsmen have had humiliating experience in the first innings and are looking much more wiser so far in the 2nd innings (going by the opener's performance and Dravid's promising show so far). Plus you have the rain factor too.

Just wish Dravid and Ishant eat up a minimum of one session. That would be a big boost for the team and the rest of the batsmen.

 

[jkartik]

India wouldn't want to think too much about the weather, but they might get some assistance from the clouds. It started raining minutes after the teams left the stadium, and there are more showers forecast for the fourth day of the match.

the rain is a double edged sword now. on one hand, it can delay the proceedings but on the other hand...can juice up the pitch considerably.

 

[SaiSrini]

If rain can take away one day from this test match, then maybe India can survive the juiced up pitch for the other single day (MAYBE!).

 

[aditya123]

While we may not be able to save this test unless we have a miracle, what we could achieve here is some form for the batsmen. We could make use of this test as a warmup fixture. I know it may sound ridiculous but thats the best we could make use of from this test. Already, we have had Sehwag and Gambhir relatively settling against Steyn and Morkel. Gambhir seemed to be coming to terms against Morkel and I don`t think we`ll get rolled over so easily again in this series.

Even our bowling attack follows the same pattern in every series. Wait till the second test before writing us off. I don`t think many here have seen Indian cricket in the past few years with any sense of neutrality other than the aim of coming up with the `They don`t deserve to be up there` comment. Seriously.

If we are flat track bullies, why did Australia lose both the tests in India despite winning the toss on both occasions? Those were`nt turning tracks either, and the Aussies managed to lose wickets to Zaheer and Sree in the 2nd innings at B`lore and to Ishant at Mohali. Why did SA, bar Amla struggle at Kolkata where they lost by an innings, and again that was`nt a turner.

Although the No.1 ranking is too close to call, some of the bashing is ridiculous. SA have lost a home test in most of their last few series if you guys have`nt noticed.

Yes, we have been crap in this test but there is something called as acclimatizing to the conditions which we have not been able to do thanks to our stupid scheduling. Does anyone have an answer to why Australia were`nt able to play out draws or win those tests if they were flat tracks? Don`t come up with ridiculous answers like, `Overseas batsmen get out because of sheer boredom in India`. How did Zaheer get those wickets at Kolkata on Day 1 on what you guys call a flat track while India managed 630/4 odd against Steyn and Morkel?

Its called knowing the conditions better. Noone gets out due to boredom, not in a test match. The whole point is that if pitches in India were dead and flat, opposition sides should`nt be losing games in India at all. Also, we have`nt produced a rank turner in India for a while except for that game at Kanpur. In fact our seamers have had a fair share of wickets in India, in fact more than the spinners on many occasions. I don`t understand why opposition sides have`nt been able to play out easy draws in India then. From what everyone here is saying, pitches in India are flat and Indian bowlers have no skill at all, plus we do not produce turning tracks in India anymore. Then how do we manage getting results in India (consistently as well)?

 

[SaiSrini]

Good reply aditya. For them, if a bowling machine throws down a ball at 1000km/ph with no control, they will be in awe of it. One innings, and everyone just loves to bring out their usual "India is the undeserved No.1" crap. I still maintain that our bowling attack has the capability to pick 20 wickets in a test match. Seeing the way SA batted in the 1st innings and the way we are batting in the 2nd innings, its safe to call this pitch as yet another flat one. Only thing is, the rain and the conditions juiced up the pitch considerably on Day 1 and also added to it our batsmen having their first real batting in match conditions in SA.

 

[TruSachFan]

Where you at? How are things in "India is the best and will win this" Wonderland?

You miss me that much man? I never proclaimed that India is the best, but if you want to put words in my mouth, then go ahead, I could care less.

TruSachFan added 3 Minutes and 7 Seconds later...

If rain can take away one day from this test match, then maybe India can survive the juiced up pitch for the other single day (MAYBE!).

Rain or without rain, I want to see Steyn and Morkel still bowling on the 5th day and also for each of our batsmen to spend a whole lot of time in the middle. We have done it before, and I don't see no reason why we can't do it again. Smith's going to use Steyn and Morkel in short spells anyways, so we should just look to play them out and then score runs off of Harris, Kallis, and tsotsbe or whatever his name is. It would be awesome if Ishant Sharma is there for 20-30 more overs.

 

[stefan]

You guys need to understand the difference between the types of rain. Thunderstorm (which is what is predicted) do not last long, its not the drizzle rain of the first day. If anything a thunderstorm will just help the SA bowlers.

 

[AkshayS]

While we may not be able to save this test unless we have a miracle, what we could achieve here is some form for the batsmen. We could make use of this test as a warmup fixture. I know it may sound ridiculous but thats the best we could make use of from this test. Already, we have had Sehwag and Gambhir relatively settling against Steyn and Morkel. Gambhir seemed to be coming to terms against Morkel and I don`t think we`ll get rolled over so easily again in this series.

Even our bowling attack follows the same pattern in every series. Wait till the second test before writing us off. I don`t think many here have seen Indian cricket in the past few years with any sense of neutrality other than the aim of coming up with the `They don`t deserve to be up there` comment. Seriously.

If we are flat track bullies, why did Australia lose both the tests in India despite winning the toss on both occasions? Those were`nt turning tracks either, and the Aussies managed to lose wickets to Zaheer and Sree in the 2nd innings at B`lore and to Ishant at Nagpur. Why did SA, bar Amla struggle at Kolkata where they lost by an innings, and again that was`nt a turner.

Although the No.1 ranking is too close to call, some of the bashing is ridiculous. SA have lost a home test in most of their last few series if you guys have`nt noticed.

Yes, we have been crap in this test but there is something called as acclimatizing to the conditions which we have not been able to do thanks to our stupid scheduling. Does anyone have an answer to why Australia were`nt able to play out draws or win those tests if they were flat tracks? Don`t come up with ridiculous answers like, `Overseas batsmen get out because of sheer boredom in India`. How did Zaheer get those wickets at Kolkata on Day 1 on what you guys call a flat track while India managed 630/4 odd against Steyn and Morkel?

Its called knowing the conditions better. Noone gets out due to boredom, not in a test match.

Well said sir.
Whoever posted that, that was the utter ████ I've seen, ████ ████ ████.

Opening session will be crucial for India, hope that we won't lose a wicket here.