In my opinion,
SA Vs India :
Captaincy : Though Smith and Dhoni are leading the list in successive captains, Smith gains a bit more than Dhoni in his aggressive captaincy nature and Dhoni gains a bit more in handling the things with creativity.
Whoever is greater, both fit to their respective teams as the best captains among the current players in their teams.
Batting : In this field, I feel an equal contest again. Like as class as Tendulkar present in India, SA do have Kallis with them. Promising match winning players are present in both the teams.
Bowling :
In Spin, Indians have a clear upper hand! Asian spinners always gain a upper hand over Non Asian ones. [ Warne and Vettori are exceptions though ]
But in fast bowling... Its SA! If you give the same ball bowled by Steyn or Morkel to Munaf and RPSingh to bowl in current Aussie test series, I am sure Hayden would have gained his form back.
![Grin :D :D](/forums/styles/planetcricket/xenforo/smilies/biggrin.png)
Ishant Sharma is alone an exception for me. Sharma along with Zaheer alone raise the Indian bowling standards. Other than these two, Indian bowling is of poor standards when compared to Irish bowling also.
........ NO Comments Other than this.... SouthAfrica's pace bowling is Quality!
Fielding :
Like how said in Spin(Asians are better), in fielding its vice versa! For some reasons, Non Asian fielders tend to have more athleticism built in them. That doesn't mean at the same time, India is poor in fielding. Players like Yuvraj, Raina are brilliant fielders.. but...
How many direct and accurate hits have our Indian fielders produced compared to SA or Australia? Hardly few....
Teams :
SA look strong to me on papers. But it's only with the creative captaincy of Dhoni and tactics of Gary Kirsten, India can still put a fight to claim the number 1 spot. Otherwise, everything looks fine for SouthAfricans to stay at #1.
But seriously, They deserve to be in number 1 right from the 1999 Wcup. I pity them as there was no luck for them. My mind says, India should win the WC 2011.. but my heart says, SA or Kiwis or Windies to grab the 2011 WCup.
![Smile :) :)](/forums/styles/planetcricket/xenforo/smilies/smile.gif)