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

[AliB]

Ah, a win at Bengaluru could have got us to no 1 with 116 rating leaving behind SA 112. Anyways according to the current rating it's a matter of 3 rating. (114 and 111 respectively). I wasn't active and won't be as active as I was in the past so the whole series in a summary for me:
First test: A team game but one-sided
Second: Was looking another one-sided but thanks to the rain Gods to keep it away for the Proteas.
Third: It was a well started game but they totally failed to bat as if they are some NED or KEN.
Fourth: It was the best game I've ever watched, Till Day 3 I thought its gonna be another one-sided win for us but thanks to Hashim Amla, ABD, Faf and somewhat Bavuma who tried their best but it was the day of R Ashwin and co.

I also heard people criticizing our pitches. I'd clearly like to mention, "Spin bowling is our strength and this was our home series so it was our chance to attack. Wjy don't people citicize the Fast pitches made in Australia and South Africa, they also support the bowlers and end-up low scores for the away teams."

I just wanna congratulate VK for the first home series win as a captain and Rahane to enter the list of people to get hundreds in each inings of a test match.
It's gonna be a nightmare for the Kangaroos next year for the B-G Trophy. I hope we can get the no.1 spot soon.

 

[PokerAce]

First of all 337 run win is a little harsh for SA .. there wasnt a difference of over 300 runs here between the sides. ABD and Amla and faf deserve a lot of credit for their resistance as do all of SA batsmen.

However while SA rightly have been praised for their patience ... India deserve a lot of credit for their patience too ... its not easy when batsmen abandon all concept of run making ... but Virat kept at it kept experimenting and kept mixing ... pace spin part time bowlers ... kohli just kept his bowlers at it and entually Umesh delivered.

I dont know if this contitues a white wash ... it probably does ... SA lost every completed test ... first time SA have lost all completed tests in a series ... leaving asides washedout tests which bangalore was.

I have to question ishant again ... just what role does he play in the side. Both umesh and aaron outperformed him.
Thx to the weird ways in which the icc table works india are now #2. I suppose the lower one is on the table the more points you get and thus the faster you climb atter beating a higher ranked side .... especially the no. 1 side.

wish SA all the best for the tests against England and I expect them to be back to their winning best. I hav had a newfound respect for Amla and his walking and ABD was class as usual ... I suspect ABD is more popular in India than perhaps even SA. The crowds really got into cheering for him everytime he batted.

 

[themusketeer]

we disagreed on quite a few issues we still managed to have a good chat in the right spirit.

Yeah !

 

[stefan]

I dont know if this contitues a white wash ... it probably does ... SA lost every completed test ... first time SA have lost all completed tests in a series ... leaving asides washedout tests which bangalore was.

Technically a whitewash is when you lose all matches in the series. As bangalore was a washout it doesn't count as a whitewash.

 

[Markkkkk]

A whitewashout maybe?

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Can't wait for this year to end to be honest. It's perhaps AB's best year as a batsman and he doesn't have one trophy yet. World Cup, IPL and now this.

 

[grkrama]

Always good to win against a side like SA, good to see india turn it around for tests after t20 and odis ,was fantastic to have SA here for the past few months, every one from young rabada to ABD entertained !


Also lots of credit to both teams for duking it out for 140 overs without loosing intensity!

 

[aditya123]

As Poker said, Ishant has limited utility, especially at home. It makes even more sense to have both Aaron and Yadav playing at home because of their pace. We saw how their control has improved with more bowling. Sadly, we do not have any more tests for a long time and normal service will resume with Dhoni passing sarcastic remarks about his quick bowlers. The way Kohli backs his pace bowlers is refreshing and will reap rewards for the test side in the long run.

 

[PokerAce]

^ A little harsh on Dhoni to be honest but agree on umesh and Aaron as the first and second choice from here on.

 

[AliB]

^ A little harsh on Dhoni to be honest but agree on umesh and Aaron as the first and second choice from here on.

Never forget Shami's coming back!

 

[aditya123]

^ A little harsh on Dhoni to be honest but agree on umesh and Aaron as the first and second choice from here on.

Not harsh at all. Dhoni`s handling of quick bowlers has been very disappointing. That he favors the `safe' options of Mohit Sharma/Bhuvi/Vinay Kumar over developing genuine pacemen is very apparent from some of his snide remarks about 'picking good bowlers over quick bowlers'. When people keep having a go at Yadav/Aaron/Shami, one has to understand that fast bowlers need opportunities to learn the art. If you always keep them at the edge, wanting to drop them at every chance, you will kill their genuine wicket-taking ability. Give them a few series with the license to bowl quick and come up with their plans. These guys do have something extra which a Mohit Sharma or a Dhawal Kulkarni will never offer. Also, on flat wickets like the ones we had in the ODI series, anybody could go for runs. To drop Yadav after a couple of ODIs was nonsensical. He was`nt doing any worse than Mohit/Bhuvi. On dead wickets like the one we had at Mumbai for the last ODI, guys with pace in the air would be far more useful than your safe bets. Figures of 3/70 are far more valuable than 0/65, in my opinion, even in ODI cricket.

 

[SaiSrini]

Great series win for India! And extremely well done by Ashwin to end up with 31 wickets in the series. SAF have absolutely had no answers for him in this series. Well backed by Jadeja too. In home conditions, Ashwin and Jadeja along with Mishra form a very potent trio if they can keep playing for long enough (not sure how long Mishra can go, but Ashwin and Jadeja should go on for quite sometime). After a disappointing T20 and ODI series, it is great to win the test series in such dominating fashion against one of the top sides in the world, even if it is at home (for a while, we had even lost our bite at home).

Some questions exist in our batting still (Pujara has not completely fixed his issues, Rohit continues to be a liability and yet frustratingly backed by his captain friend, Dhawan continues to perplex) but the time to discuss further will come.

What's the point of going for runs? They are not trying to win the game. I don't understand your argument other than that you don't think it's exciting to watch, but you aren't even watching it. You are just following the scorecard!

Being a guy living in the US, it's hard to watch these games shravi and you know that. However, even if I had watched it, I would have had the same reaction (or maybe even worser). Frankly I am continuing to be surprised to see so many complimentary comments for SAF's blockathon in the fourth innings of this test. Eventually, we broke it. Where did their blockathon get them to? 143 runs all out? How bad does that look? Pretty bad if I were a SAF fan.

There used to be times when India were chasing a big total in the 4th innings and everyone would say "India better not try to block out; they won't get anywhere by blocking out; its negative cricket; etc etc etc". And when India eventually try to block it out and lose the game as a result, the comments would be "Well there you go; I said it right; India and their captain were stupid in trying to do so"... But when it comes to SAF, their blockathon is seen as a revival of good ol' test cricket? What the crap? When India blocks, its negative. When SAF blocks, its the return of good ol' test cricket?

To me, its double standards. And I understand why. SAF are historically known to be aggressive cricketers who play an aggressive brand of cricket. So when they play a defensive brand all of a sudden, it looks like a tactic and is seen favorably. But India are historically known for defensive brand of cricket (epitomized by the infamous 36* by Sunil Gavaskar in 60 overs). So when they block, it just rubs salt into the wounds and is termed "negative". But it should not be so.

 

[greymatter776]

Being a guy living in the US, it's hard to watch these games shravi and you know that. However, even if I had watched it, I would have had the same reaction (or maybe even worser). Frankly I am continuing to be surprised to see so many complimentary comments for SAF's blockathon in the fourth innings of this test. Eventually, we broke it. Where did their blockathon get them to? 143 runs all out? How bad does that look? Pretty bad if I were a SAF fan.

There used to be times when India were chasing a big total in the 4th innings and everyone would say "India better not try to block out; they won't get anywhere by blocking out; its negative cricket; etc etc etc". And when India eventually try to block it out and lose the game as a result, the comments would be "Well there you go; I said it right; India and their captain were stupid in trying to do so"... But when it comes to SAF, their blockathon is seen as a revival of good ol' test cricket? What the crap? When India blocks, its negative. When SAF blocks, its the return of good ol' test cricket?

To me, its double standards. And I understand why. SAF are historically known to be aggressive cricketers who play an aggressive brand of cricket. So when they play a defensive brand all of a sudden, it looks like a tactic and is seen favorably. But India are historically known for defensive brand of cricket (epitomized by the infamous 36* by Sunil Gavaskar in 60 overs). So when they block, it just rubs salt into the wounds and is termed "negative". But it should not be so.

IMO I think South Africa's decision to block everything was indeed good when we look back to how they batted throughout the series.Even in this test if we keep apart the class innings of Kohli and Rahane no batsman was able to keep scoring unless they showed patience.But for SA there was no point in scoring patiently,to win they needed to score at a good rate or bat for a draw.Their plan did worked out untill the last session of day 5 and if the tail showed a bit more resistance they could have got a draw.

 

[abhi_jacko]

IMO I think South Africa's decision to block everything was indeed good when we look back to how they batted throughout the series.

Thats the key. For a team completely out of sorts the whole series, this was a very impressive effort. And they did take it to the final session of the Test. Also, keeping in mind, they had already lost the series - most teams would just give up and capitulate by Lunch.

Eventually, we broke it. Where did their blockathon get them to? 143 runs all out? How bad does that look?

You have to understand that the scorecard, at many times doesn't do justice to what happened on the field. The grit and determination shown by SAF's top order is commendable. They were pushed into a corner, and instead of going down in a blaze of fire they decided to grind it out and hang on for as long as they possibly could.

And mind you, guys like ABD-Faf-Amla are natural stroke players. For someone like ABD to rein in his dominating instinct and to block out deliveries he would have deposited in the stands with his eyes closed makes for fascinating viewing personally.

They still lost, but as Amla said. You can go for broke and embarrass yourself or you can lost with honor. I think they lost with honor

 

[PokerAce]

Finally back on the Computer after days yay !!

India did exceptionally well to win the series 3-0. In all of this there was an unsung hero for India and that was the Wicket Keeper - Saha. He was just phenomenal in this tour. We barely noticed him at all, and on the pitches he kept that is the best compliment a keeper can have. One only notices keepers when they are doing something wrong, and Saha on this tour was unbelievably good. he chipped in with a few 30s with the bat, but boy his keeping was beyond belief this entire series.

Going into the series I was not his greatest fan, and believed that Ojha should have kept as he is a slightly better batsman, or atleast looks to be one. However Saha came into this tour with the reputation of technically the best keeper in the country and he lived upto that. He outperformed Vilas by a mile with the gloves.