South Africa in India

[siddharth2002]

India lost one game and everyone is lashing at them . Come on guys India never improved by leaps and bounds.
First, India won against SL because they never deserved 2nd place. They won everything at home in SL where even AUS find it tough.
Second,SA is a truly 2nd ranked team in ODI's because of genuine reasons.
Thirdly, India is improving, look at the overall picture. Pathan was tried in the hope to develop his skills against seam bowling. I am sure Greg wants Pathan in Jaques Kallis mould. One who opened the bowling once and has been batting at number 3.
So if India beats a good team, doesn't matter they would be beating everybody easily.
I bet NZ, Pak, SL at home, AUS all can still beat India comfortably and rankings show that as well. So India is improving slow and steady. They had been the worst ODI team before SL series.
So I am happy to wait-out this year and judje the overall picture. So far, bottomline; India is good but not that good yet.

 

[vibs89]

India lost one game and everyone is lashing at them . Come on guys India never improved by leaps and bounds.
First, India won against SL because they never deserved 2nd place. They won everything at home in SL where even AUS find it tough.
Second,SA is a truly 2nd ranked team in ODI's because of genuine reasons.
Thirdly, India is improving, look at the overall picture. Pathan was tried in the hope to develop his skills against seam bowling. I am sure Greg wants Pathan in Jaques Kallis mould. One who opened the bowling once and has been batting at number 3.
So if India beats a good team, doesn't matter they would be beating everybody easily.
I bet NZ, Pak, SL at home, AUS all can still beat India comfortably and rankings show that as well. So India is improving slow and steady. They had been the worst ODI team before SL series.
So I am happy to wait-out this year and judje the overall picture. So far, bottomline; India is good but not that good yet.

Agree with you.

 

[siddharth2002]

I must say Smith is just awesome man. What an agrresive starting he played till the end 134 Runs!!! Congratzz to Smith. Even I too have the same feeling SA will beat Aus. I have some feeling. Well I just hope it's just an intreting series and after that VB Series will be played. SA-Aus definately in final. As about Sri Lanka they only performs in home ground not in overseas. Well can't wait for the sereis and ofcause India Pak series toooo.

I am not giving much credit to Smith. He was under no pressure whatsoever. After getting to a 50 and then the required runs coming down to under 100 even I would chance myself to smash a few against anybody and would likely succeed!!!
Cheers!!

 

[ashu2411]

I am not giving much credit to Smith. He was under no pressure whatsoever. After getting to a 50 and then the required runs coming down to under 100 even I would chance myself to smash a few against anybody and would likely succeed!!!
Cheers!!

No buddy, it was a good inning from Smith. All credit to him. Indian batting and bowling both were pathetic.

 

[vibs89]

No buddy, it was a good inning from Smith. All credit to him. Indian batting and bowling both were pathetic.

Yeah no doubt about it. Don't be jealous people( Lol Joking). All credits goes to him. and chipped in for some Hall to by patneship with Smith.

 

[SaiSrini]

India lost one game and everyone is lashing at them . Come on guys India never improved by leaps and bounds.
First, India won against SL because they never deserved 2nd place. They won everything at home in SL where even AUS find it tough.
Second,SA is a truly 2nd ranked team in ODI's because of genuine reasons.
Thirdly, India is improving, look at the overall picture. Pathan was tried in the hope to develop his skills against seam bowling. I am sure Greg wants Pathan in Jaques Kallis mould. One who opened the bowling once and has been batting at number 3.
So if India beats a good team, doesn't matter they would be beating everybody easily.
I bet NZ, Pak, SL at home, AUS all can still beat India comfortably and rankings show that as well. So India is improving slow and steady. They had been the worst ODI team before SL series.
So I am happy to wait-out this year and judje the overall picture. So far, bottomline; India is good but not that good yet.

Yeah, you're right on the point. India are good now, but not great! But at least they have the foundation to push on to become great!

I would give credit to Smith because its never easy against this Indian line up! They have performed very well so far in 9 games against Lanka and Africa! And 188 was a tricky total to chase though not a overtly huge total. He was also helped by some dropped catches surprisingly by the Indian captain Dravid who had a disastrous day on the field today!

Regarding Mumbai, I am sure Dravid and Chappell's plea to shave off the grass would be executed to the best (in the homeland of a certain S.Pawar?). So I expect the wicket to be a good one for batting with turn for the spinners later on in the match! Its Sachin's hometown and India should have enormous support from the home crowd unlike Eden Gardens where India found it alien conditions!

 

[vibs89]

Well I'll tell you one thing. From the starting of Ind-SL and till now which is total upto 11 games which is one drawn. Out of 10 India have won 7 games, 1 drawn and 3 games loss. The three game they loss is they batted first and then bowl second. The reason is India if had bowl first they would have won all the games. And 7 games we won is we bowl first and one was 1st ODI of Ind-SL which we batted first. Now so far I've compare is that India sucks in when they bat first. So coming to the main point India really need to improve and show something that they can really beat any team in any position. I will only believe when India is a better team when they can beat the team ina ny positiong like batting first and then bowl propely. As far as I think I don't think India is better team they are only better at bowling first but they still need to prove by batting first.

About Mumbai Pitch as I know abt my own hometown where I use to live before. Is that Mumbai pitch is always green the bowling pitch is specially for seamers and can turn the ball so much that you get beaten by the seamers. And about the record in Mumbai is India has a poor record in Mumbai Stadium. They have hardly won any match. I've went to see many match in Mumbai which was India-SA and India Aus. They loss and have a very poor record. So I only hope :upray :upray :upray India can do well and level the series.

 

[aussie1st]

I agree India have to be able to learn how to win the games when they bat first. You aren't always going to win the toss thus you have to win from what ever position you are put in. I would like to see if SA could win if they batted 1st.

 

[SaiSrini]

I agree India have to be able to learn how to win the games when they bat first. You aren't always going to win the toss thus you have to win from what ever position you are put in. I would like to see if SA could win if they batted 1st.

I highly doubt so! If so, why didnt South Africa win in Bangalore? Even Australia might have found it tough to win had they batted first in these conditions! These are Indian wickets and Indian conditions. They are on the extreme side and you really have to depend a lot on the toss!

A day game is relatively better but still in winter it also gives the team winning the toss an advantage! Comparatively in summer, its better as there is no dew and its hot and humid and it actually gets a bit tougher batting second under the lights but its definitely a bit challenging, thats all. we have seen a lot of wins batting second too in Indian conditions!

 

[aussie1st]

I don't disagree there, if SA want to challenge Aus they too have to win games no matter what. Its hard to say how Aus would have done if they were batting first on these pitches. As I mentioned before they were able to defend a total of only 200 when their batting collasped.

That is interesting about when the better start time is. In places like England an early morning start means lots of seam movement. Obviously its different in India.

TBH though I never knew India even had winter. I thought they were hot all year round like Singapore.

 

[vibs89]

Well India does have winter but some part of the city. Mainly in Mumbai is not winter as I checked the weather out for final match is 90 degree fahrenheit.

 

[aditya123]

First of all, I don`t know why most of the Indians on this forum are now lashing the Indian side ! C`mon guys , this is ODI cricket .A bad day at the office
We have a young side which can only learn from its mistakes . WE have it in us to come back and win the last ODI . I agree that we`ve got to learn to win matches bowling first or second but it is very difficult to do in India with the dew factor during winter especially in eastern India .

As far as Mumbai is concerned , welcome to my hometown !
The weather in Mumbai is not cold but a very pleasant one . It only gets chilly (around 21 C) late in the evening (about 9`O clock) .
Hence I don`t think that the dew will be much of a factor in Mumbai although you`ve got to expect some dew in any Indian or Pakistani ground during Nov-Dec .

As Sai said, this is Tendulkar`s hometown and he is due for a big one. Hopefully he would be inspired by the West Indian Genius`s 200 against Australia .
One thing about these great batsmen, whenever you get ready to write them off, they come up with something magical . I expect Sachin or Dravid (both of whom have not been at their best against SA ) to deliver at Mumbai .
The last time a Chennai test was rained out, we beat Australia at Mumbai
This time it is a ODI that has been rained off at Chennai, will it be a ODI win at Mumbai ! Let us wait and see .
Flintoff waved his shirt to level the series at Mumbai ! Can Team INDIA make it 2-2 !

 

[SaiSrini]

I don't disagree there, if SA want to challenge Aus they too have to win games no matter what. Its hard to say how Aus would have done if they were batting first on these pitches. As I mentioned before they were able to defend a total of only 200 when their batting collasped.

That is interesting about when the better start time is. In places like England an early morning start means lots of seam movement. Obviously its different in India.

TBH though I never knew India even had winter. I thought they were hot all year round like Singapore.

Well, India has winter. But you dont feel the cold here as much as you do in other countries... Here in the evenings, you have dew and thats when you slightly feel a bit cold. that too in chennai, you never feel it becoz of the high humidity levels.

 

[prarara]

Does anyone think that Gangs will be called into playing the next match in Mumbai? For me, I am a fan of him, but I think that he should stay out of the current team, or at least the team for this tour. If you think about the Indian Oil cup held in Sri Lanka, one can also conclude that part of the dismal performance may have had something to do with the team chemistry in itself. When a captain is de-throned it will obviously affect the players, and it probably will in a negative way if said captain is kept in the side.

 

[SaiSrini]

First of all, I don`t know why most of the Indians on this forum are now lashing the Indian side ! C`mon guys , this is ODI cricket .A bad day at the office
We have a young side which can only learn from its mistakes . WE have it in us to come back and win the last ODI . I agree that we`ve got to learn to win matches bowling first or second but it is very difficult to do in India with the dew factor during winter especially in eastern India .

As far as Mumbai is concerned , welcome to my hometown !
The weather in Mumbai is not cold but a very pleasant one . It only gets chilly (around 21 C) late in the evening (about 9`O clock) .
Hence I don`t think that the dew will be much of a factor in Mumbai although you`ve got to expect some dew in any Indian or Pakistani ground during Nov-Dec .

As Sai said, this is Tendulkar`s hometown and he is due for a big one. Hopefully he would be inspired by the West Indian Genius`s 200 against Australia .
One thing about these great batsmen, whenever you get ready to write them off, they come up with something magical . I expect Sachin or Dravid (both of whom have not been at their best against SA ) to deliver at Mumbai .
The last time a Chennai test was rained out, we beat Australia at Mumbai
This time it is a ODI that has been rained off at Chennai, will it be a ODI win at Mumbai ! Let us wait and see .
Flintoff waved his shirt to level the series at Mumbai ! Can Team INDIA make it 2-2 !

Fantastic and on the point! India dont deserve brickbats just because of one failure. They have played so well in the past 9 games. If they continue performing badly in another 3-4 games or so, then yeah, you are justified in criticising them and saying 'they suck'!

I want Tendulkar to fire at Mumbai and put the South Africans in their place! He is a great batsman and cant keep away from scoring for long. The thing that he can do now is, pick out Shaun Pollock for special attention! Remember once Henry Olonga rattled Tendulkar and got him out and led Zimbabwe to an upset win in a Sharjah Cup tri series. India and Zimbabwe then again met in the finals (Sri Lanka lost out to Zimbabwe in the finals!) and Tendulkar's blistering attack on Olonga still remains a historical moment for all us Indians! Olonga himself has admitted that Tendulkar tore into him.

Shaun Pollock is the weapon that Tendulkar has to diffuse. The thing is, surprise him by smashing him all over the place! If he loses his line, well its great news. Not only will he lose his line but it would put enormous pressure on the other bowlers to take up his role of containing and the others might not be as skilled as him to do that job! Its all down to Tendulkar and Sehwag. They have to open next match! If the wicket is again assisting fast bowlers, then we should have JP Yadav instead of Kartik as the Super Sub.

Its a 100% no-no for Ganguly to come in for Mumbai's game! The team was selected for the last two ODI's and Ganguly was not in it. So he cant play! He is not needed at the moment! One defeat wont change my stance! We have the required resources!