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

[ZoraxDoom]

If there is bounce, Ishant will pwn. When he hits his rhythm and is landing it in the right areas, he's incredibly awkward to play.

If there is any swing or seam movement, Sreesanth will suddenly become deadly.

Problem is that they both need to click. Ishant has to find his rhythm to produce one of those magical spells, Sreesanth needs to not lose his head.

Zak will do well no matter what.


I'm worried about the 4th and 5th seamers in the squad. How has RP been going? Would be nice to have an in-form RP back.

And I guess Irfan, Munaf and Balaji have been discarded for good. Nehra and the Kumars labelled as ODI specialists - and rightly so.

Mithun, Yadav, Unadkat are still too new and raw. Don't really feel assured knowing that should one of our 3 seamers get injured we'll have either a 19 YO or 23 YO test debutant up against the RSA batting lineup.

Oooh I forgot about Tyagi. Would much rather have Tyagi picked than Unadkat. More FC experience.

 

[SciD]

Tyagi and Sree would be handful if Saffers decide to give juicy wickets. In case of bouncy track Ishant alone is enough.

 

[TruSachFan]

^I think you are overestimating your Fast bowling unit a bit too much here. Only Zaheer khan is well established in the above trio. The other two seamers are still trying to find their feet in test cricket. South Africa have a very strong batting line up. I don't think they will gift away their wickets to any seam attack.

Oh please. Sreesanth wasn't "established" in 2006 yet he picked up 18 wickets. If it wasn't for the pathetic Sachin and Dravid partnership at Cape Town, we may very well have won that test match and the series. Zaheer Khan's a much better bowler than he was in 06 ( although that goes the same for Steyn). If you saw the recent matches, you would have seen Ishant being a very good bowlers. He was hitting the right length, and bringing the ball in at 140kph+. Sreesanth was also getting considerable movement on the "dead" Indian pitches. Anyone expecting the likes of ZAK, ishant, and Sree to roll over and play dead will be very disappointed after India win the series.

ZAK and Steyn cancel each other out in SAF conditions.
Ishant and Morkel do the same.
The X-factor will be Sree up against probably De vet. If Sree regains the form he was in 2006, and if the saffers produces the same pitches, then India's gonna walk all over SAF.

 

[SaiSrini]

Signs of Ishant regaining his form is already set in motion (his last two tests, against Australia and New Zealand and that too on Indian wickets, he has bowled very well). He should relish more helpful and juicier bowling conditions. Sreesanth too will relish it. Zaheer bowls well no matter what the conditions are.

 

[stefan]

True, if that would be the case, how come Australia lost two test series here, Srilanka lost 4 and South Africa lost here too. England lost a series too IIRC.

SA hasn't lost a series in india recently. Last two series in india were drawn.


Question marks for the first test are whether smith will be fit. If not do we move amla to open and bring in duminy or pick one of rudokph,elgar,van zyl or puttick?

Stiaan van Zyl | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

Jacques Rudolph | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

Dean Elgar | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

Andrew Puttick | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

The third seamer will be interesting. Will they go for tsotsobe or parnell for the left arm variaton?? Or go for de wet.

Mcclaren will only play if the pitch is green and we go for 5 seamers.

The spinner is the other question mark. Depends when tahir's papers come through really and wehther the management is brave enough to pick him. For now I think harris will keep his spot.

Of the batsmen prince will be under pressure he needs to start scoring runs if he doesn't want the selectors to go back to duminy or give rillee rossouw a go.

 

[War]

Oh please. Sreesanth wasn't "established" in 2006 yet he picked up 18 wickets. If it wasn't for the pathetic Sachin and Dravid partnership at Cape Town, we may very well have won that test match and the series. Zaheer Khan's a much better bowler than he was in 06 ( although that goes the same for Steyn). If you saw the recent matches, you would have seen Ishant being a very good bowlers. He was hitting the right length, and bringing the ball in at 140kph+. Sreesanth was also getting considerable movement on the "dead" Indian pitches. Anyone expecting the likes of ZAK, ishant, and Sree to roll over and play dead will be very disappointed after India win the series.

ZAK and Steyn cancel each other out in SAF conditions.
Ishant and Morkel do the same.
The X-factor will be Sree up against probably De vet. If Sree regains the form he was in 2006, and if the saffers produces the same pitches, then India's gonna walk all over SAF.

HA. All i will say is that IMO you seriously over-rate India's chances & the strenght of INDs pace attack in SA conditions.

I'll remember this post when the series ends.

 

[Dare]

ZAK and Steyn cancel each other out in SAF conditions.
Ishant and Morkel do the same.
The X-factor will be Sree up against probably De vet. If Sree regains the form he was in 2006, and if the saffers produces the same pitches, then India's gonna walk all over SAF.

Did you just seriously say that Khan and Steyn cancel each other out? Nobody these days cancels Steyn out anywhere, especially on home soil on pitches that offer something to the fast men.

Morkel and Ishant do the same? Morkel is miles ahead of Ishant, he is where Ishant wants to be.

 

[pcfan123]

Did you just seriously say that Khan and Steyn cancel each other out? Nobody these days cancels Steyn out anywhere, especially on home soil on pitches that offer something to the fast men.

Morkel and Ishant do the same? Morkel is miles ahead of Ishant, he is where Ishant wants to be.

Biggest fail ever. 10 Ishants would not make a Morne and no amount of Indians will ever make a Dale Steyn

 

[TruSachFan]

All of you will be in for a surprise next month provided ZAK is fit and raring to go.

 

[shravi]

Stop talking us up, dude. You are just setting yourself up for failure. The key is to be as pessimistic as possible so that the victory is that much sweeter and the loss is a little easier to swallow. Besides, our bowling attack is NOWHERE NEAR as good as you're making it out to be. Sure, they have bowled on some dead tracks that haven't complemented their true abilities very well, but Steyn and Morkel are still so much better, it is not even funny... and I am not even taking into consideration what their 3rd and 4th seamer brings to the table (plus Harris). Those two men trump however many bowlers India want to stack up against them. That's how good they are, especially in home conditions.

 

[War]

Stop talking us up, dude. You are just setting yourself up for failure. The key is to be as pessimistic as possible so that the victory is that much sweeter and the loss is a little easier to swallow. Besides, our bowling attack is NOWHERE NEAR as good as you're making it out to be. Sure, they have bowled on some dead tracks that haven't complemented their true abilities very well, but Steyn and Morkel are still so much better, it is not even funny... and I am not even taking into consideration what their 3rd and 4th seamer brings to the table (plus Harris). Those two men trump however many bowlers India want to stack up against them. That's how good they are, especially in home conditions.

Haha, ye mr.TSF is way over the top currently with his predicitions & assertions.

 

[SaiSrini]

Stop talking us up, dude. You are just setting yourself up for failure. The key is to be as pessimistic as possible so that the victory is that much sweeter and the loss is a little easier to swallow. Besides, our bowling attack is NOWHERE NEAR as good as you're making it out to be. Sure, they have bowled on some dead tracks that haven't complemented their true abilities very well, but Steyn and Morkel are still so much better, it is not even funny... and I am not even taking into consideration what their 3rd and 4th seamer brings to the table (plus Harris). Those two men trump however many bowlers India want to stack up against them. That's how good they are, especially in home conditions.

Thats the Sid way of doing things. I would rather place the right amount of hope and hype upon our team, and if they dont do well, you say its part of the game.

Steyn and Khan comparison might not be too unfair on Steyn. Khan is very good even on docile Indian wickets (some will peek into his average, but off late he is developing into a real good bowler for India). But yeah, Ishant vs Morkel is quite off. Morkel is definitely a better bowler. Who's their third seamer? Yes, SA have a better pace attack than us, but they are not facing our bowlers, they are facing our batsmen. Its a far more sterner battle than our bowlers facing SA batsmen. I think this will be an enjoyable series. Hope Kirsten can give us some inside tips on how SA might think, prepare, etc. He has already succeeded in getting BCCI to send some of our players early to SA.

 

[SciD]

^ India will loose all matches with an innings defeat and Harbhanjan will be top scorer. Sehwag will get hit on nose first ball of series by Steyn and will retire from cricket.

 

[Dare]

Thats the Sid way of doing things. I would rather place the right amount of hope and hype upon our team, and if they dont do well, you say its part of the game.

There is no problem with the "right amount" but when someone goes overboard like that other dude then its just pathetic.

Steyn and Khan comparison might not be too unfair on Steyn. Khan is very good even on docile Indian wickets (some will peek into his average, but off late he is developing into a real good bowler for India). But yeah, Ishant vs Morkel is quite off. Morkel is definitely a better bowler. Who's their third seamer? Yes, SA have a better pace attack than us, but they are not facing our bowlers, they are facing our batsmen. Its a far more sterner battle than our bowlers facing SA batsmen. I think this will be an enjoyable series. Hope Kirsten can give us some inside tips on how SA might think, prepare, etc. He has already succeeded in getting BCCI to send some of our players early to SA.

I dont think anyone is questioning how good of a bowler Khan is but Steyn is just way ahead of any other pace bowler. Zaheer does great things on Indian wickets so I wouldn't be surprised if he does well in South Africa (if he is fully fit) but Steyn will give the Indian batsman more trouble then Khan will to the Safers. The South African batsman are playing at home, they dont have the adjust as much as the Indians do. Kallis, Smith and Prince all average 45+ (kallis 56) at home, Amla just over 41, Boucher and Ab 35+. Of the Indian lot that will be touting South Africa Laxman is the only one that averages 40+, Sachin is just under 40 and Dravid 33.

 

[SciD]

Where are you coming from?