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

[Pinch hitter]

may be AB create a new record in this test match... 'the new lowest strikerate ever registered on his name'...

 

[Gaurav_7]

Don't know about others but I have really enjoyed this blocking from South Africa. It will be an amazing effort if they manage to save this game tomorrow. I have a feeling it will be a very close one.

 

[grkrama]

ya if amla or abd stay around i can see it boil down to the evening to save the match!

Good to see abd ahead of faf in this situation!

this is certainly fun to see! this is pure batsman decision making on a ball by ball basis without thinking of runs!

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Posting on mobile is hard and ideally I wud have liked to reply to so many posts but I will do a summary post.

Whoever said Kohli is better than ABD is wrong and so is the bloke who said Kohli and ABD are not in the same league. Kohli had a poor tour to england but has scored runs everywhere else including SA. No one has challenged the Aus bowling line up australia like kohli did on the previous tour scoring 4 hundreds on one tour. Whoever thinks kohli cant score like the best of them has been living under a rock. However right now abd is better.

I wud rate kohli behind williamson ... abd ... root ... but not behind anyone else ... and definitely in the too class there is.

Sa have shown excellent application so far ... but this test shud really be a matter of time.

Yes, Kohli isn't in the rank of de Villiers as a Test batsman. He obviously has a lot more years left, but it's not 'just about scoring runs.' It's about the IMPACT of those runs and circumstances. de Villiers has got runs or not got runs and blocked on days to save and win tests. Kohli hasn't. He had one exceptional tour to Australia, which to his credit was fantastic. But, at this moment in time, if you think they're in the same league you're quite biased. The consistency of the two is just chalk and cheese. ODI's would be tough to choose.

At this moment- I'd say-

de Villiers, Williamson, Kohli & Smith, Root. Root has made runs at home and had an average tour to UAE. Let's see what he does in India.

 

[stefan]

Great application shown so far. Still far to go, key will be these 2 and faf.

 

[stefan]

I think today was another example of why Kohli is just better than De Villiers. The ball reversing and Kohli was still scoring at a pretty fast rate compared to all our other batsman. Every shot he played was very orthodox and classical. He relies on just timing the ball and placing it whereas De Villiers clobbers the ball and he's really good at it. I'm not saying De Villiers is not that great, but when I hear most of these commentators going crazy when De Villiers comes to bat it makes me wonder why they are so obsessed with him.

Kohli averages 41.56 while he has always batted in his preferred middle order positions abd averages 51 while also having opened and kept during his career. ABD has chased a score of over 400 to win a game and blocked out games vs tough opposition, kohli has done none of that. If we exclude ABD's 18 matches as opener he averages 56, there is no comparison between the 2 as test match batsman.

 

[grkrama]

while im also on the ABD is in a league of his own now bandwagon, it did take ABD 4 years to find his feet before entering beast mode!

the career stats of AB de Viliiers are a proof of how he transformed after the 2008 Lord’s Test. Until after that game, the phenomenal batsman had scored 2,613 runs at a mere 39.59 with 5 centuries. As opposed to that, his career record today shows 7770 runs against his name in 100 Tests at a brilliant average of 52.41 and he has scored 21 tons already.

AB de Villiers’ ODI career has also gone up leaps and bounds since the same match as his average has gone up from 37.66 to 54.21 and he now has added 20 more centuries to his previous tally of 3.

The match that turned around AB de Villiers' career

I would give the same chance to the quadruplet of kane, root, kohli and smith!

To put it better ABD is someone these guys can aspire to be in a few years!

 

[stefan]

AB made that 100 in his 43 game all of kohli,williamson,smith and root have played similar amount of games already. Besides the argument wasn't that kohli could better it was that he is better.

Also he scored that 100 when he was younger then all of these 4.

 

[Aalay]

Let's end this silly discussion. Kohli is not better than AB De Villiers, at least not yet. Right now, AB and Kane are probably the best batsmen in the world. I would put Root and Kohli together in the second spot and then Smith.

Coming back to this match, although I don't agree with the approach that South Africa have showed so far because if you go this defensive against spinners, it will be very hard to survive. However, they have done it brilliantly so far. I still feel India will win but it will be great to see if South Africa pull off a draw here.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I think AB's growth since 5-6 years and the rate of that growth has been unbelievable. I think, his self confidence and belief in his own ability is just insane. I think Kane Williamson is the best young test batsman. I think Kohli is the best ODI batsman. Steve Smith is the best all round batsman with Kohli almost neck and neck. Joe Root has a lot to prove in the sub continent though he looks the part.

People very often under estimate de Villiers the test batsman because of his prolific ability in the ODI game where no one is in his vicinity. If you had to pick the best all round batsman of this generation, I wouldn't go beyond him. My heart says Kohli is the future but my mind says Steve Smith.

 

[namin96]

If their careers end now, Kohli isn't on the same planet as de Villiers. For me, numbers don't matter much. I think AB is a very versatile batsman. He can defend and attack. de Villiers only clobbers the ball at the fag end of a limited overs contest, better than Kohli and he can time the ball just as well. You've probably not seen him bat.

He's a game changer and he has built an aura around him. His charisma is undeniable and he is the best batsman of this generation.

Amla needs to be positive. His block to survive is a matter of time.

I agree AB is really good and is a game changer however if he is really great as you and as all other people are saying where was AB in Nagpur and how about Mohali? If he bats all day tomorrow and saves the match for SA then I will admit he is the best among all batsman in the world today.

 

[namin96]

Posting on mobile is hard and ideally I wud have liked to reply to so many posts but I will do a summary post.

Whoever said Kohli is better than ABD is wrong and so is the bloke who said Kohli and ABD are not in the same league. Kohli had a poor tour to england but has scored runs everywhere else including SA. No one has challenged the Aus bowling line up australia like kohli did on the previous tour scoring 4 hundreds on one tour. Whoever thinks kohli cant score like the best of them has been living under a rock. However right now abd is better.

I wud rate kohli behind williamson ... abd ... root ... but not behind anyone else ... and definitely in the too class there is.

Sa have shown excellent application so far ... but this test shud really be a matter of time.

AB is almost 32 years old and he's got 44 international centuries, Kohli just turned 27 and has 34 international centuries ( way more than AB had at Kohli's current age). Right now I can see why people say AB is better but I've got no doubt that not just when Kohli completes his career but as time goes on Kohli will be the better batsman and I think that is very easy to see based on Kohli's level. How long do you think AB can maintain his level of play, he's almost 32. I've got my own opinion and I just think Kohli's batting is more classy and elegant which makes it fun to watch him play.

 

[CerealKiller]

where was AB in Nagpur and how about Mohali? If he bats all day tomorrow and saves the match for SA then I will admit he is the best among all batsman in the world today.

So everything he's already done means nothing if he doesn't manage to save this match? Even if he doesn't save this match, he will remain the best batsman in the world. That's a fact. And where was Kohli during those matches? Oh, wait, i remember, he was struggling too. If you think Kohli's more fun to watch, then that's your personal opinion, and you're entitled to have one, but a lot of people might disagree with you. I do.

 

[bigred]

So everything he's already done means nothing if he doesn't manage to save this match? Even if he doesn't save this match, he will remain the best batsman in the world. That's a fact. And where was Kohli during those matches? Oh, wait, i remember, he was struggling too. If you think Kohli's more fun to watch, then that's your personal opinion, and you're entitled to have one, but a lot of people might disagree with you. I do.

Kohli was a bit of an embarrassment against the moving ball in England. AB is way better when considering all conditions.

My top 10 based on all conditions

1. AB de Villiers
2. Kane Williamson
3. Joe Root
4. Steve Smith
5. Hashim Amla
6. David Warner
7. Virat Kohli
8. Alastair Cook
9. Younus Khan
10. Ross Taylor

 

[PokerAce]

I see this has turned into a kohli vs abd debate. Now when someone from England says kohli is not that great ... i get it ... kohli had such a poor tour there its hard to imagine anyway who saw him there would say that is special.

However as someone who has followed kohli a lot more closely than just one tour kohli more often than not has brought it on the big tours. He had a 100 and a 96 on the tour to SA in two tests ... He has an unbeaten 100 and a 67 in his two tests in NZ ... and four hundreds in four tests in Australia. For a subcontinent batsman these are the toughest tours.

He also has a 100 and a near hundred on the SL tour to help India win a series in SL after 23 years.

I refuse to believe that a case of any kind can be made against a person having these kind do of numbers on difficult away tours not being a top bracket batsman.

just that his tour to England was so bad that it butchered his average.

Kohl is a top bracket batsman ... even so Williamson ABD and to some extent Root I would rate ahead of him ... not anyone else though.