South Africa's tour of India - October/December 2015

[abhi_jacko]

So the Day-night test just ended in 3 days - 2 fifties were scored. Highest team score was 224

Such a poor display of test cricket, surely. Matches should last for 5 days

 

[PokerAce]

^ Was about to make the exact point. Whats wrong with tests ending in three days. I mean first there were too many draws, now its too many results!

 

[abhi_jacko]

And here is the rub:

India v SAF ends in 3 days. Terrible playing conditions. the ball shouldn't turn so much. The poor batsmen didn't stand a chance
Aus v NZ ends in 3 days. Batsmen need to up their game and improve their skills.

 

[SaiSrini]

Its a typical Western world trait. A pitch that aids fast bowlers is glamorous. A pitch that aids spinners is bad and boring.

I am expecting and hope that another rank turner is dished out in Delhi, which of all centres in India, is a perfect example of a "phirki wicket" (square turner). SAF have lost claims of being superior in away games. Truth is, they haven't been challenged this hard anywhere else. Amla says that he can't remember any other tour where he faced more challenging conditions.

Tests still shouldnt end in 3 days. Elgar/Harmer arent world class spinners but we bowled you out for 200s nearly every game...

Well, we bowled you out for 79 in an innings. Truth is, your guys just didn't play as well as our batsmen did. Yes, our batsmen are not as good as Indian batsmen historically have been against spinners. But still, a good batsman can fight it out on such pitches, which Vijay and Pujara have proved. And some guys like Rahane were dismissed by seamers than spinners. This series exposed the technique of both teams vs spinners.

 

[stefan]

^ Was about to make the exact point. Whats wrong with tests ending in three days. I mean first there were too many draws, now its too many results!

People pay for 5 days of entertainment not 3 days. Same issue as with teams not bowling the required 90 overs a day. Its robbing the paying public of what they have paid for. Lets give you an example both 4th days of the Kingsmead ad Newlands test this year vs England is already sold out, is it fair to those people who already paid if there is no 4th day?

The adelaide wicket was also not good, had too much grass on it. Believe both smith and Mcculum said this after the game.

I am expecting and hope that another rank turner is dished out in Delhi, which of all centres in India, is a perfect example of a "phirki wicket" (square turner). SAF have lost claims of being superior in away games. Truth is, they haven't been challenged this hard anywhere else. Amla says that he can't remember any other tour where he faced more challenging conditions.

So one series lost in 9 years means more then 9 years worth of performances, yeah right...Other tours have been played on good cricket wickets that's the difference...We shall see in the upcoming tours.

 

[Satan666]

Yeah thought about it but most of the India fans are on this board, so I will post here anyway

Hmm dont be so brave son.

 

[War]

If no one complained then (about the pitches), why is everyone complaining now? Its so obvious that people are riling up India for preparing turning pitches to make use of their "perfectly within the spirit" home advantage. Your comments seem to be in the Indian team's interests. But from the majority of the comments that has been happening on social media, internet and from the media, it seems pitches like this should never be prepared for the so-called interest of test cricket. That according to me is BS. As you said, Ashwin/Jadeja/Mishra are not in that league of Ajmal/Shah/Babar/Rehman/Hafeez. But still SAF were flattened and bended by spin. That tells me, they are not a proper No.1 and they have a major weakness that can be exposed pretty easily. And the manner of their defeat here tells the world that they can be upstaged easily if teams put proper planning/effort and execution.

Lets not forget SA have the best record in Asia of any non SC team in the last 20 years. The great AUS team took 3 tries to win in India - no one was saying they weren't a proper # 1 because of those issues - since they won everywhere else.

Obviously this is first SC tour they have been without Smith & Kallis - if they were playing this series at the peak of their powers it might have aided the proteas..

 

[PokerAce]

People pay for 5 days of entertainment not 3 days. Same issue as with teams not bowling the required 90 overs a day. Its robbing the paying public of what they have paid for. Lets give you an example both 4th days of the Kingsmead ad Newlands test this year vs England is already sold out, is it fair to those people who already paid if there is no 4th day?

The adelaide wicket was also not good, had too much grass on it. Believe both smith and Mcculum said this after the game.

First of all who the hell pays for 5 days of entertainment. People buy tickets to see that day's action. Even if there are tickets for all 5 days sold, are you telling me that people who buy these tickets don't know that the game can finish before 5 days?

And lastly are you telling me that we must make it mandatory for tests to last 5 days, as people want 5 days of entertainment?

And what all this about too much grass, too much dirt, I mean its the same pitch for both teams, and if the test doesn't go to 5 days then so be it. Just play on road wickets then and be done with it.

 

[Aalay]

Other tours have been played on good cricket wickets that's the difference...We shall see in the upcoming tours.

Every pitch that has been produced on this South African tour has been a "good wicket". The difference is, this South African team struggled against spinners more than the previous South African teams. Just because one team failed to adapt to the conditions does not mean it's not a good wicket.

 

[CerealKiller]

Every pitch that has been produced on this South African tour has been a "good wicket".

I wouldn't call them "good wickets". They weren't bad wickets, but not good either.

 

[Markkkkk]

How can a good wicket have all teams been bowled out for such low totals every game? Utter nonsense...

 

[SaiSrini]

It was nowhere close to being an "unplayable wicket". The batsmen of today lacked the temperament and patience to bat longer on those wickets. Good batsmen like Vijay and Pujara showed that batting can be done on wickets like this. SAF were just horrendous with their batting on these wickets. When they started to apply themselves (in the 2nd innings of the Nagpur test; by which it was too late), they were starting to see better success. Its SAF's horrible batting that aided greatly in both the tests ending in 3 days.

Just like people enjoy a green top, turners like this should be allowed to exist.

 

[CerealKiller]

Just like people enjoy a green top, turners like this should be allowed to exist.

Yes, they should be allowed to exist, but they shouldn't be prepared in every single match. Greentops get easier to bat on, rank turners get worse to bat on.

 

[PokerAce]

Yes, they should be allowed to exist, but they shouldn't be prepared in every single match. Greentops get easier to bat on, rank turners get worse to bat on.

While this is true for the most part, but the Nagpur test was an odd one, where the turn got slower on day 3, and thus batting got easier. This was one of those rare turners that got easier to bat on as the test went on.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Here is a question. If given the option, which game would you pay to watch regardless of the team you support - The Nagpur test ? or the Perth Test ?

Personally for me, it would have to be Nagpur.