South Africa in India

[ashu2411]

How do you rate Smith captaincy guys? I still believe some experienced player like Kallis or Boucher would have been a much better captain.

 

[satishmania]

giving captaincy to Kallis would put a lot of burden on him..he's the batting mainstay for south africa plus he is a great bowler..so without captaicy he already carries a huge workload...its asking a bit too much to be an all-rounder as well as a good captain...

 

[ashu2411]

I agree but still Sachin was made captain too and Inzamam is captain for Pak as well as their main batsmen. Then Lara, Attapattu, Vaughn - all are main batsmen for their teams. So why not Kallis.

 

[icyman]

Cronje-gate


is why Kallis was not given the captaincy.

 

[m_vaughan]

What are you guys saying?!

Under Smith, SA's new generation have flourished. I like his aggressive nature, even though he is definately not in the best of terms with Vaughan and Flintoff.

Smith has captained his team to 12 consecutive ODI victories now, 7 of which were against top quality opposition like NZ and Eng. He also did an exceptional job at Somerset, winning them the Twenty20 title.

I can only laugh at those who doubt Graeme Smith after all this. All I need to see from him now is a little more consistency with the bat, in terms of converting his 40s and 50s into 100s more often.

 

[ashu2411]

SA seems to struggle in batting except Kallis and some other small contributions.

 

[m_vaughan]

You have definately not seen SA play on a regular basis over the past one and a half year. Their batting looks pretty strong with players like Smith, Gibbs, De Villiers and Kallis at the top, and Prince, Kemp, Boucher, and Pollock forming the middle and lower middle order. One person who continues to disappoint me however is Jacques Rudolph. They have lots of all rounders and lots of bowling options. Charl Langeveldt picks up wickets at crucial times, and could use the dry and dusty wickets in India well.

But obviously, they are going to miss Gibbs and Boje a lot, and hence I back India to edge it 3-2.

 

[icyman]

South Africa have played some weak oppostion in the last year ..thats why ppl are doubting them.
They played West Indies and New Zealand.
They have'nt actually come to the subcontinent.This time round they will be here after a long time.

 

[m_vaughan]

I can understand WI, but NZ are definately not weak opposition. I actually rate them better than England and India in ODIs. They did thrash England in the 2004 NatWest and India in the Videocon Cup and 2002 Home Series.

And the fact that this series is being played in the subcontinent is why I am looking for an India series win, otherwise I think SA, with all their talented all rounders, will win easily.

 

[icyman]

Just put in Lance Klusener in that African team.
It would be a keen contest then given that the Zulu delivers.

 

[m_vaughan]

Yeah Zulu would be an awesome addition!

 

[SaiSrini]

Well, definitely NZ are not weak opposition mate! They are one of the strongest teams in the ODI's, even better than India or England.

And to those questioning Smith's captaincy, making him captain for the ICC World XI is quite a big honour and speaks volumes of how much he has achieved as captain! I havent seen much of his captaincy (havent had the time to follow SA cricket!) but I regard him as quite a successful captain!

 

[icyman]

Definately successful.
he pulled the team out of the depression they suffered post-world cup 2003.

 

[Cricketman]

i think smiths the 2nd best captain out there, only a point or 2 under fleming.

 

[Gibbsrules]

Yeah,Smith has started to learn to keep his mouth closed,and is starting to deliver some good results.