SA or India : The Real Challengers To Australia`s Throne.

[aditya123]

Seeing how both the sides would have played Australis home and away by the end of March 2009, we should have a fair indication as to which of the two is the real challenger to the throne or in an extreme case, both would topple Australia to the No.3 spot.The top 3 ranked nations have never been closer !

Let us look at the batting of the 2 sides first :
India seem to have a stronger,more glamorous batting lineup while SA have the more restrained conservative and steady lineup.
Gambhir v McKenzie
Sehwag v Smith
Dravid v Amla
Sachin v Kallis
Laxman v Duminy/Prince
Yuvraj v De Villiers
Dhoni v Boucher

Sehwag v Smith is the closest one to call.But if you look at the partnership as a whole,Gambhir and Sehwag would just clinch the batting honours for India though.However their partnership has not been tested a great deal in foreign conditions.India have Rohit Sharma,Raina,Badrinath,M Vijay waiting in the fringes while SA have Duminy.

Laxman v Prince is another close one but Laxman`s ability to churn out big innings under pressure against good attacks makes him a marginally better bet than Prince.Prince has been largely untested against Australia.

Sachin v Kallis ,leaving the bowling aspect aside is the comparision between the two most experienced batsmen.Tendulkar has had a solid year in test matches this year and has played many crucial pressure knocks whilst taking the monkey of the fourth innings run-chase of his back.Kallis has had a poor test match year while Tendulkar now looks a more solid batsman than what he was in the past while compromising on some of his strokeplay.

AB De Villiers and Yuvraj have very similar roles in their sides.The role of the attacking strokemaker in the middle-order.De Villiers has already established himself as a test batsman over the past year while Yuvraj is still trying to get a regular spot in the test match side after Ganguly`s exit from test cricket.

BOWLING :
Zaheer v Ntini
Sharma v Steyn
Harbhajan v Harris
Munaf/Sreesanth/Mishra v Morkel

On current form, Zaheer is a better bowler than Makhaya because of his ability to extract movement with both the old and the new ball.He is the best reverse swing bowler in the world.
Steyn has to be the better of the two due to Sharma being only in his first year in test match cricket.However,Sharma is fast catching up and making all the right moves towards becoming a leading fast bowler in world cricket.His ability to pick up big wickets and bowl crucial spells keeps him well in this race(read Perth 2008).

India obviously have the better spinners of the two sides but the ability of Harbhajan to be effective on foreign soil is debatable.

Coming to the third seamer, its even-stevens there. Munaf,Sreesanth,RP Singh are as effective on helpful wickets as Kallis,Morkel,Zondeki,Nel.
So bowling is that close with maybe SA clinching this one by a whisker.

FIELDING:
SA have the better fielding side of the two by miles.

CAPTAINCY:
Although early days in the captaincy career,Dhoni has come across as someone who makes the right noises and moves.Smith has had a successful run as well but Dhoni seems to have a midas touch going for him.In addition to this, Dhoni does not come across as an arrogant guy which many say Smith comes across as.If Dhoni`s ODI results are anythig to go by, India`s reins are in safe hands.Dhoni for me !

I still cannot make a call on which side is better equipped but I would go for India,just.The reason is that India have constantly challenged Australia at their prime,home and away and have a 7/7 head to head against Australia in their last 15 games.+India have not lost to Australia in their previous 6 meetings,2 of which were in Autralia.

 

[Griffo]

So much bias in this its not funny... not even worth my time reading

 

[ZoraxDoom]

So much bias in this its not funny... not even worth my time reading

Well if you bothered to take the time reading, you'll see there is absolutely no bias. He has labelled both teams as equals, and frankly, I agree with him. Pace bowling and Batting wise, India and RSA are equals. RSA has the edge on fielding, India on Spin Bowling, and both have good captains. Just because an India wrote something doesn't make it biased garbage.

 

[jarl]

Whats the head to head statistics between RSA and India?

 

[.Mob]

Nice avatar, Jarl, awesome album.

Anywho, in future, we will have a far better fielding unit, we could surely match them in that field.

 

[prarara]

I'm not sure if this is fair>

From March 2005 till Now:

Team	Result	Margin	Toss	Bat		Opposition	Ground	Start Date	
India	won	123 runs	won	1st		v South Africa	Johannesburg	15 Dec 2006	
India	lost	174 runs	lost	2nd		v South Africa	Durban	26 Dec 2006	
India	lost	5 wickets	won	1st		v South Africa	Cape Town	2 Jan 2007	
India	draw	-	lost	2nd		v South Africa	Chennai	26 Mar 2008	
India	lost	inns & 90 runs	won	1st		v South Africa	Ahmedabad	3 Apr 2008	
India	won	8 wickets	lost	2nd		v South Africa	Kanpur	11 Apr 2008

http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru...=bowl;template=results;type=team;view=results

From this in recent history, it looks like RSA has won more matches. But the current Indian team is gelling a lot better, and it has to prove that it can consistently win matches.

 

[mdoggie]

Whats the head to head statistics between RSA and India?

South Africa have never lost at home to India. South Africa drew with India thins year and but India beat them in 2004. The series before that was a South African win so South Africa have had the edge other India in head to head

 

[naresh091]

Quite impressive analysis Aditya,but its a little brief.
But I would say Smith is greater than Sehwag only for the fact that Sehwag isnt as consistent as Smith.But Sehwag is in good form now and can turn any match single handedly when compared with Smith.
However Smith beats him for me.
The Indian middle order and Spin department is miles ahead of SA's.
Good analysis mate.KIU.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Nice avatar, Jarl, awesome album.

Anywho, in future, we will have a far better fielding unit, we could surely match them in that field.

I doubt it. Atleast not as long as we are carrying older players like Sachin, Laxman, Dravid etc. Ishant isn't the most athletic, Mishra is okay, Viru is a great catcher but that's it...We lack that athleticism in the outfield.

But we aren't that much weaker, so it shouldn't make a huge difference considering our edge in spin bowling.

 

[McLOVIN]

Gambhir v McKenzie
Sehwag v Smith
Dravid v Amla
Sachin v Kallis
Duminy v Laxman
Yuvraj v De Villiers
Boucher v Dhoni

prince should be there vs ?

and you should do a poll thingi. "Next Super Power: Indian or RSA?"
and i would rather see RSA on Top, because indian already have the MONEY power, and if they get to be #1 then they will be over the mood...(again)

 

[surendar]

Munaf,Sreesanth,RP Singh are as lethal on helpful wickets as Morkel,Zondeki,Nel.
So bowling is that close.

Munaf, Sree, RP --- lethal? in getting smashed? I feel Ganguly/Tendulkar/Sehwag better than slow lifeless Munaf, aggressive for nothing, Sreesanth, Getting smashed bowler, RPSingh.

Oh well.. I am not a fan of Indian bowling attack.. SA do have a quality bowling attack which was well observed when We went to SA last time.. how our players struggled to reach even 200 in ODIs and how they(SA) got runs with ease which inturn explains our bowling attack.

You forgot Pathan? Who is another rusting bowler we have in our list. Only bowler who has impressed me is Ishant Sharma. I don't consider our Indian bowling line-up to be a dependable one even if it is a 300+ defending one.

 

[karnog]

I think the big problem India face is replacing Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid (certainly their consistency). There all in their mid 30s and are in the twilight. South Africa on the other hand are a younger side and Duminy has proven his worth at the International level saffas are in a better position to dominate. Both teams have strength in opposite quarters which makes it tough to compare. At India its India but in South Africa its South Africa. Personally Bradinath is equivalent to Duminy but he hasn't played much International cricket (and that lone test to win the match under trying circumstances). If India can replace those 3 relatively easily during the next 3 years i can't see why not India cannot dominate and be the better side.

 

[Jit]

Both team are even. SA got better fielding but India got better spinners.

 

[mattfb]

Dhoni is nowhere near as good as Boucher. Boucher wins that hands down. Boucher is one of the best keepers ever.

 

[prarara]

I feel like the provide different utilities to the teams they play for.