TEST/ODI SERIES: INDIA vs SOUTH AFRICA (2 Tests, 3 ODI's)

[stmookeyj]

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/13/l_bc9f92ae2b164766a4a5af88de749a04.jpg VS http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/23/l_7dfb60e6eef44fd699444e11258aff84.jpg


After meeting what some amounted to their "A" side at home, South Africa travel to the subcontinent to take on the World #1 who were comfortable 2-0 winners in Bangladesh. It's a short tour, with no 20 over fixtures ahead of 89667989 20 over games in the Premier League so obviously authorities didn't want to put the fans through overkill before the overkill, but chances are the pitches will resemble freeways anyway so runs won't be an issue.


SCHEDULE
TOUR MATCH: Ind Board Presidents XI, VCA Ground Nagpur, 2-3 February
1st TEST: VCA Ground, Nagpur, 6-10 February
2nd TEST: Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 14-18 February
1st ODI: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, 21 February (DAY/NIGHT)
2nd ODI: Green Park, Kanpur, 24 February (DAY ONLY)
3rd ODI: Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, 27 February (DAY/NIGHT)


Firstly a note on Eden Gardens. It may look unrecognisable on the TV, but that is due to reconstruction work for the World Cup. Capacity at this stage is only 45000, hence the 2nd test is the first played at the ground since 2007.

Turning to squad news and India have named a vastly different squad for the 1st test than their touring party to Bangladesh, mostly because of injury. Rahul Dravid was not considered after getting his cheekbone smashed by Shahadat Hossain, Yuvraj Singh has ligament damage in a wrist (and will also miss the 2nd test) and Sreesanth has a hamstring injury. Laxman is fit and selected despite a hand injury but Dinesh Karthik is discarded after a sub-par batting performance filling in for Dhoni at Chittagong. Into the 15 man squad comes Subramanian Badrinath who is most likely to be in the XI for his test debut being 1 of the 6 specialist bats selected. Fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun (replacement for Sreesanth) and keeper Wriddhiman Saha (cover for Dhoni who's had some back issues recently) are also included in the squad, but are less likely to get the call.

On the South African side, their 15 man Test squad sees room for Johan Botha after 2 years in the wilderness. The left armer Lonwabo Tsotsobe also gets a call up. Makhaya Ntini's international career is virtually over after not being selected, and Friedel de Wet is also an absentee. ODI specialists Albie Morkel, Herschelle Gibbs, Roelof van der Merwe and Loots Bosman are in the ODI squad. Of course, this is the first series without their former coach Mickey Arthur, and Corrie van Zyl (former high performance manager) and Kepler Wessels (batting consultant) are at the controls before a February 19 board meeting where the future direction of the game in South Africa will be known.


SQUADS

INDIA (FIRST TEST ONLY): Mahendra Singh DHONI (C), Subramanian BADRINATH, Gautam GAMBHIR, HARBHAJAN Singh, ZAHEER Khan, Vangipurappu Venkata Sai LAXMAN, Abhimanyu MITHUN, Pragyan OJHA, Wriddhiman SAHA, Virender SEHWAG, Ishant SHARMA, Sachin Ramesh TENDULKAR, Sudeep TYAGI, Murali VIJAY

PRESIDENT'S XI (TOUR MATCH): Rohit SHARMA (C), Abhinav MUKUND, Parthiv PATEL (wk), Ajinkya RAHANE, Manish PANDEY, Cheteshwar PUJARA, Abhishek NAYAR, Piyush CHAWLA, R ASHWIN, R Vinay KUMAR, Abhimanyu MITHUN, Shikhar DHAWAN, Umesh YADAV, Manpreet GONY

SOUTH AFRICA (TESTS): Graeme SMITH (C), Hashim AMLA, Johan BOTHA, Mark BOUCHER, Abraham Benjamin DE VILLIERS, Jean-Paul DUMINY, Paul HARRIS, Jacques KALLIS, Ryan McLAREN, Morne MORKEL, Wayne PARNELL, Alviro PETERSEN, Ashwell PRINCE, Dale STEYN, Lonwabo TSOTSOBE

SOUTH AFRICA (ODI's): SMITH (C), Loots BOSMAN, BOTHA, BOUCHER, DE VILLIERS, DUMINY, Herschelle GIBBS, KALLIS, Albie MORKEL, M.MORKEL, PARNELL, PETERSEN, STEYN, TSOTSOBE, Roelof VAN DER MERWE


http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/141/l_2800f95972c94c69823803d3306dc307.png has coverage of the 1st test from 2:45 EDST from the 6th of February, but as always check EPG's and Local Guides. If not, then just search YouTube after each day's play given that there are so many Indian Cricket fans with accounts, or Cricinfo.

[Indian_Hotdog]

Go world champions !! :)

[sudzz]

They will have a problem in their bowling department, their spinners will not be a threat at all, barring Steyn I dont think the pacers will also make too much of a impact.

The issue will be that Indian attack is also crappy therefore its going to be a run fest and therefore draws...

[damochandler]

it will be a 1 nill victory too someone. i can see the first test turning into a high scoring draw and the second a bowlers match

[BluesInTheSky]

Should have been a 5 match test series.

[legend166]

2 Test series? What a joke.

[damochandler]

i hope the stadium cafe in bali still show cricket and this series as well. i will be watching the first test on tv at that bar if they have it on

[Stormers]

I'm going to put money on RSA in this series, I think they are paying over the odds, they have the bowling attack to take 20 wickets on the flattest pitches in the world imo, Steyn and Morkel are a firey duo, their issue is goin to be in the spin department but I reckon if Botha plays instead of Harris he could cause some trouble, India's batting aside from Sehwag and Gambhir looks brittle to me, Tendulkar record againt RSA isn't great and Laxman is past it and doesn't really play well against anybody other than Australia

[Cousin Jed]

Laxman is injured and is not playing. Rohit Sharma who came in as cover for Laxman also got injured, so the backup wicketkeeper gets a game.

Paul Harris gets his spot back and most importantly for SA they have won the toss and are batting

V Sehwag, G Gambhir, M Vijay, SR Tendulkar, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni*†, WP Saha, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, A Mishra, I Sharma

GC Smith*, AG Prince, HM Amla, JH Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, MV Boucher†, DW Steyn, WD Parnell, M Morkel, PL Harris

No umpire referral in effect because the BCCI don't want to pay, they are short of a dollar after-all - Steve Davis and Ian Gould the men in the middle.

[Blue Dimension]

As much as I rate Parnell, SA's bowling attack looks much less menacing on paper without Ntini there.

Why on earth are the BCCI not paying? What a load of bull. It should be mandatory across the board.

Watch this blow up into a major issue if some major decisions go against South Africa.

[BluesInTheSky]

India devasted with injury, SA should win this.

[Cousin Jed]

SA already on the ropes at 2/6, with the help of a dodgy umpire decision that couldn't be overturned.

I wonder if it was Davis....

[Blue Dimension]

SA already on the ropes at 2/6, with the help of a dodgy umpire decision that couldn't be overturned.

I wonder if it was Davis....

This match could potentially be disaster and cause a hell of a lot of controversy at the end of it.

I hope the umpires are on their game, that's all I'm going to say.

[dumb]

if the indians get some shockers, i wonder if the crowds will burn effigies of either the umpires or the bcci? that could be a first.

[OzBomber]

Amazing that the top 2 sides will be eachother in a 2 test series. Absolutely ridiculous. Should be 3 at that absolute minimum. I'm tipping 2 draws.

[dumb]

124/2, bit of a wobble but they've settled, could score anything from here.

[Cousin Jed]

Kallis is a gun

[Spikey]

scores to slow lol


Never gonna get a better chance for that 200


no jinx


Who or what is a Wriddhiman Saha? Yusuf Pathan got about 5000 runs in the Duleep Trophy Final thingy....

[Stormers]

RSA absolutely cruising, india have no answers and look all at sea, Kallis all class, I was nervous after the 1st two wickets but feeling pretty content about my backing of RSA to win this test match, they have a mountain of batting to come

[dumb]

first day/usual hours, and more than 90 overs bowled in a day, that's a nice piece of nostalgia.

[Belnakor]

Geez Kallis is a classy batsman when he wants to be. A seriously gritty and excellent batting display which i doubt many batsman in the world could have done, especially when they started bowling wide to him.

[apollo_creed]

It was brilliant.

Now he just needs 41 more. I'm even nervous for the guy.

This might be his last chance. He is getting on, remember? (you wouldn't know it considering the volume of runs he still sscores)

[danielnajdek]

another boring high scoring draw in India?

[apollo_creed]

another boring high scoring draw in India?
we have roads in australia as well.

this is a discussion about india v south africa. if that's all you have to contribute then go away.

[Cooldude]

It's amazing how this SA side looks like world beaters away from home atm and total rubbish at home

[danielnajdek]

we have roads in australia as well.

this is a discussion about india v south africa. if that's all you have to contribute then go away.

Take a chill pill buddy I was asking a question or didn't you see the question mark. I was just wondering as they're only 2 out for 290 and I can't watch it on tv of course.

[apollo_creed]

a question with an opinion/criticism inserted.

not much of a question when you're already supplying your own answer mate.

----

kallis would be ****ing nervous right now. 200 would be on his mind.

[danielnajdek]

So is it a dead flat pitch? That's all I want to know.

[Spikey]

Kallis to get out in the first hour.

[Cousin Jed]

Wheels are falling off

107.6


Harbhajan Singh to Amla, 1 run, 87.3 kph, dropped by Dhoni It was turning down the leg side, Amla gets a feather on the glance and it bounds off Dhoni's gloves and pops over the leg slip

107.5


Harbhajan Singh to Amla, no run, 87.6 kph, Dropped by Vijay at short leg Amla skips down the track and tries to flick but the ball dips on him and goes off the bat and pad to short leg where Vijay doesn't hold on . It was a sitter. Harbhajan can't believe Vijay has clanged it

[Spikey]

Should give Wriddhiman Saha the gloves tbh.

ps Kallis to get out in the second hour.

[Cousin Jed]

ps Kallis to get out in the second hour.

Throw enough shit against the wall....

[Spikey]

Kallis is obviously cursed.

[apollo_creed]

A combination of gutless bowling and his own nerves/stagnant batting (with 200 in mind) didn't help things.

When you're scoring at <10 runs in the hour you're asking for trouble.

[danielnajdek]

are they ever gonna declare or just bat for 3 days.

[Cousin Jed]

Duminy is the South African version of North.

[Spikey]

Gee Smith sucks when it comes to declarations

[OzBomber]

Duminy is the South African version of North.
It was funny how everyone built him up as the 'New Lara' after his knock against us. He's done nothing since.

[danielnajdek]

ffs just declare Smith!!

[XFactor1979]

will they try let amla try get a triple?

[danielnajdek]

What's smith doing? Doesn't look like he wants to win this test.

[Stormers]

this is ultra boring atm, Mishra the only one looking like taking a wicket, no wonder there's next 2 zero people at the game, these pitches in India are a joke, they are just roads, surely the fans don't want to watch this rubbish every time, when will the BCCI wake up and make it interesting for the fans

[Cousin Jed]

Wasn't against them batting on after tea, but I would have thought they would have started playing some shots, especially with Boucher in.

[danielnajdek]

May as well just see how many Amla can make. Barring a Indian collapse it will be a draw.

[Spikey]

Which is what the BCCI want, no? Don't they just need to not lose the series to pick up 175K or something?

[Stormers]

Beautiful, just what we wanted, a declaration, hopefully the Sth Africans can rip into the Indians, I'm looking forward to this little session, we will now see what Sehwag and Ghambir are made of against a quality attack, not a pathetic minnow like Bangladesh and an average test side in SL, cmon Proteas

[Selective Retention]

This Amla character always getting starts and never going on.....:p

[Cousin Jed]

Should have kept batting by the looks of it.

[danielnajdek]

that was a bold declaration :p 4 overs before stumps. I think smith has turned a corner with his captaincy.

[davey_magik]

Bad captaincy but the guys out in the middle needed to hurry up a bit, Kallis was a bit disappointing this morning in not really accelerating.

Not surprised at the pitch either, this is getting ridiculous. Imagine how much better Sharma and Khan would be on a pitch that offers something?

[Blue Dimension]

this is ultra boring atm, Mishra the only one looking like taking a wicket, no wonder there's next 2 zero people at the game, these pitches in India are a joke, they are just roads, surely the fans don't want to watch this rubbish every time, when will the BCCI wake up and make it interesting for the fans

I've said time and time again over the past couple of years that the pitches in India have been absolutely disgraceful. Is it any wonder why they have trouble producing fast bowlers.

Boring cricket.

[danielnajdek]

Well there goes Gambhir

[apollo_creed]

Yep, the Indians are finding things really easy out there.

A disgrace!

Quality fast bowling does the trick.

Sharma not taking wickets can't be blamed on the pitch. Follow the guys career after this debut tour and those following soon after - he's been terrible for a while, irregardless of where he's bowling.

[DT_fanatic]

Yep, the Indians are finding things really easy out there.

A disgrace!

Quality fast bowling does the trick.

Sharma not taking wickets can't be blamed on the pitch. Follow the guys career after this debut tour and those following soon after - he's been terrible for a while, irregardless of where he's bowling.

You're comparing him to the #1 pace bowler in the world?

Morkel (besides that one delivery) and Parnell have been just as ordinary as Sharma so far.

[apollo_creed]

You're comparing him to the #1 pace bowler in the world?

Morkel (besides that one delivery) and Parnell have been just as ordinary as Sharma so far.
huh?

who said I was talking about this game. the only reference was to not use the pitch as an excuse for sharma not doing anything.

I'm going back much further. you know, the reason(s) he should arguably be dropped at this point.

[danielnajdek]

What do you expect he's bowling on highways in India.South African bowlers get to bowl on more friendly pitches.the Indian cricket board should be ashamed of themselves bloody disgrace.

[danielnajdek]

And Sehwag throws his wicket away. Such a great player yet so frustrating.

[DT_fanatic]

huh?

who said I was talking about this game. the only reference was to not use the pitch as an excuse for sharma not doing anything.

I'm going back much further. you know, the reason(s) he should arguably be dropped at this point.

I don't see any reason why he should be dropped from the test scene. He was MOTS in the Australian tour and since then has played SL at home (where he played only one test) and NZ away where he was admittedly poor. Not surprisingly he had a decent series against the Bangers and has therefore been retained.

4 tests worth of poor performance does not warrant dropping him at all.

He's been poor in this test but it's not like it's a fast bowlers dream this pitch.

Though I agree he should be dropped from the ODIs.

[apollo_creed]

What do you expect he's bowling on highways in India.South African bowlers get to bowl on more friendly pitches.the Indian cricket board should be ashamed of themselves bloody disgrace.
what are you talking about?

south african bowlers are taking wickets on it.

india's couldn't.

application in batting. sensible cricket.

[danielnajdek]

Well when I posted that they were only 3 wickets down.

[Stormers]

And this is exactly why I put money on RSA to win this match, their pace attack is so far superior to India's (more specifically Steyn), India can have all the excuses they want, but their team is overrated, Gambhir finally facing a decent bowling attack and Tendulkar continues his struggles against the Proteas

India should not be the no1 team in the world, period, RSA are clearly the best test team in the world as they are more consistent home and away

[Stormers]

This is Steyn at his best, clearly the best bowler in the world, I would go as far as saying india fear him, he loves bowling against them, they are absolutely clueless aside from Sehwag who seems to thrive against the best bowlers in the world anyway, I love seeing India getting a bit of their own medicine

[DT_fanatic]

what are you talking about?

south african bowlers are taking wickets on it.

india's couldn't.

application in batting. sensible cricket.

wouldn't have anything to do with having 558 runs on the board

[DT_fanatic]

And this is exactly why I put money on RSA to win this match, their pace attack is so far superior to India's (more specifically Steyn), India can have all the excuses they want, but their team is overrated, Gambhir finally facing a decent bowling attack and Tendulkar continues his struggles against the Proteas

India should not be the no1 team in the world, period, RSA are clearly the best test team in the world as they are more consistent home and away

They still have 11 wickets to get.

But if you're so confident maybe you should put your house on the Saffers for the next test as well., :thumbsu:

[Stormers]

They still have 11 wickets to get.

But if you're so confident maybe you should put your house on the Saffers for the next test as well., :thumbsu:

I'll put my house on it that they will win this test

[Vince2Porps]

BAHAHAHA india the no1 team in the world? What a fallacy that is, who have they played in the last 2 years since playing Australia? SL, Bangladesh, NZ and England from memory? Only the NZ tour was away....what a joke they are, no heart at all, they are so soft, Steyn showing his class and his ownage of of the Indians, 2 and half days to win or save a test match? Not to be against a team of this class I'm afraid

[Buddy]

And the fact that 3 of India's best batsmen are out injured isn't a factor?

Please.

Take nothing away from South Africa who have been fantastic, but it's a massive loss that Laxman and Dravid are playing, let alone the fact that Sharma (the replacement for Yuvraj himself) injured himself on the morning of the first day ...

[Santana]

Already one down in the 2nd innings. :thumbsu:

[dumb]

steyn is very good, make no mistake. we seen enough evidence while he was down here.

i suppose i've been following cricinfo updates on facebook too much, where to say the indians like to gloat about being number 1 in test cricket, is putting it nicely. it's the kind of behaviour that makes me wince when australians do it as well.

i think the batsmen missing could be a factor. if this is a reasoning that the indians will use, then it's beyond me that they can't understand why people have been questioning why they may not be #1 for very long given guys like dravid / laxman / tendulkar are at the twilight of their careers.

[The Reaper]

Gambhir out already

[The Reaper]

And the fact that 3 of India's best batsmen are out injured isn't a factor?

Please.

Take nothing away from South Africa who have been fantastic, but it's a massive loss that Laxman and Dravid are playing, let alone the fact that Sharma (the replacement for Yuvraj himself) injured himself on the morning of the first day ...

well if they want to be world number one for more than a year than they better be able to cope without Dravid and Laxman.

[Vince2Porps]

And the fact that 3 of India's best batsmen are out injured isn't a factor?

Please.

Take nothing away from South Africa who have been fantastic, but it's a massive loss that Laxman and Dravid are playing, let alone the fact that Sharma (the replacement for Yuvraj himself) injured himself on the morning of the first day ...

What does that say about the no1 team depth then? I dunno about you, but it tells me that it's pretty poor, you would think that the no1 team would show a bit more fight than they have, as good as Steyn has been India's batting has contributed to their demise as much as Steyn's good bowling has, Laxman and Dravid are coming towards the end of their careers and whilst Dravid is still rock solid, he and VVS are well and truly past their best, so they will have to get used to life without them

[dumb]

sehwag goes, india really in the poop now.

[DT_fanatic]

What does that say about the no1 team depth then? I dunno about you, but it tells me that it's pretty poor, you would think that the no1 team would show a bit more fight than they have, as good as Steyn has been India's batting has contributed to their demise as much as Steyn's good bowling has, Laxman and Dravid are coming towards the end of their careers and whilst Dravid is still rock solid, he and VVS are well and truly past their best, so they will have to get used to life without them

Yeah SA coped really well without a fully fit Kallis in the first two tests against England. You could argue he's going to retire around the same time as Dravid or Laxman, who are just as important to the Indian team as Kallis is to SA right now, despite how well they're performing. Not to mention we lost two players, and not just one.

Btw, Saha was an unexpected debutant. Sharma was supposed to play. And the other replacement in Badrinath scored 56. Only Vijay failed. Once. Previously played well against Australia and SL.
Look beyond the surface and you'll find that your claim that we have poor depth doesn't have anything to back itself up.

[DT_fanatic]

But yeah, need a miracle now.

Dustbowl for the next test you'd think.

[Buddy]

What does that say about the no1 team depth then? I dunno about you, but it tells me that it's pretty poor, you would think that the no1 team would show a bit more fight than they have, as good as Steyn has been India's batting has contributed to their demise as much as Steyn's good bowling has, Laxman and Dravid are coming towards the end of their careers and whilst Dravid is still rock solid, he and VVS are well and truly past their best, so they will have to get used to life without them

Fair point, I agree.

Yuvraj is a dud, always has been for mine. But Rohit Sharma, the young replacement, is an example of someone who would need to step up into the Indian middle order. It's just rotten luck/stupidity that a game of football before the game got him injured.

This Saha bloke i've never even heard of - don't think he was even in the frame to be selected.

In the long term for India, Raina, Sharma and Kohli are there. I just wish one of them played ...

[Buddy]

Yeh, big trouble now. Sachin special needed here.

[davey_magik]

Match isn't over yet, the only reason I'm saying that is 'that' Test in 2001.

I'd imagine the Saffers won't collapse though and India, well they're going to find it very hard to even force SA to bat again. I'll predict SA by 9 wickets just before stumps tomorrow.

No doubt the next match will be a dustbowl, I'll be praying SA win the toss. Imagine if they got spun out by Harris :D .

[Stormers]

Yeah SA coped really well without a fully fit Kallis in the first two tests against England. You could argue he's going to retire around the same time as Dravid or Laxman, who are just as important to the Indian team as Kallis is to SA right now, despite how well they're performing. Not to mention we lost two players, and not just one.

Btw, Saha was an unexpected debutant. Sharma was supposed to play. And the other replacement in Badrinath scored 56. Only Vijay failed. Once. Previously played well against Australia and SL.
Look beyond the surface and you'll find that your claim that we have poor depth doesn't have anything to back itself up.

Um, RSA actually should have won the first test against the Poms, dunno what game you were watching, they were clearly the better side and it took a heroic effort from Onions to save them from defeat,remember? And Sharma? pff what convinces you that he would have done better than Saha, Sharma has even struggled in the ODI arena after showing some good signs in the ODI series in Australia in 07/08, sure he might have been starved of opportunities but he hasn't proven himself in either form

[davey_magik]

Sharma is a little bit overhyped at times, he can be a very good bowler but he's more of a Mohammad Asif than an out and out quick. If there is anything in the wicket he can usually find it but on pure roads he can struggle.

Let's not forget he's still very young and hasn't really played a whole lot of Test cricket.

[Stormers]

Sharma is a little bit overhyped at times, he can be a very good bowler but he's more of a Mohammad Asif than an out and out quick. If there is anything in the wicket he can usually find it but on pure roads he can struggle.

Let's not forget he's still very young and hasn't really played a whole lot of Test cricket.

Referring to Rohit Sharma, the batsman, but ye I agree with you on Ishant as well, he has really struggled to have an impact since the Aussies toured in 08, time is on his side but I just can't see him being a "great" bowler, unfortunately the pitches he bowls on are not conducive to his bowling, he will struggle to take 400 wickets I think

[DT_fanatic]

Rohit Sharma = domestic batsman

Saha = domestic keeper/batsman

Stormers you'd put money on Sharma to score more runs if given a choice.

[Stormers]

Rohit Sharma = domestic batsman

Saha = domestic keeper/batsman

Stormers you'd put money on Sharma to score more runs if given a choice.


Rohit Sharma = unproven
Saha = Unproven

Yet you're using Sharma's injury as an excuse as well as Laxman and Dravid, hmmm

[davey_magik]

To be fair to DT Fanatic Rohit Sharma has been highly rated outside India for a while and I've been looking forward to seeing him play Test cricket, whereas I've never heard of Saha before.

[DaRick]

Dravid and Laxman are amongst India's greatest batsmen - they're going to be very hard to replace. This is yet more proof of that. Not for the first time, they're also missing Kumble - Mishra is a decent legspinner, but he has only intermittenly been effective.

Khan is in fine form, but he's also in his early 30's, with a poor injury record. Sharma remains very talented (but hasn't kicked on as yet) and Sreesanth is a credible bowler, but there may be problems in that department soon, too.

Then there's Tendulkar.

Eventually, the only conclusively Test-class batsmen will be Gambhir and Sehwag. Kohli, Raina and Sharma are all talented, but unproven - and it's never good to have too many tyros in a side. India are falling into the same trap that AUS did some years ago with regards to retirements.

But take nothing away from Steyn. He was brilliant.

EDIT: Forgot about Badrinath. He's quite prolific in domestic cricket and has been hard done by on the selection panel, so he could yet have a good Test career. I doubt he'll match Dravid and Laxman, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was at least comparable to Ganguly (only without his weight of Test runs).

[dumb]

most teams would struggle without 3 first-picked. i've been wondering about the predicament the aussies would be in, taking out ponting, clarke, hussey. white would probably come in, but who knows after that. even to play hughes and lower katich/watson still leaves another spot which would probably a speculative debut, ie s smith/ferguson.
as for india's depth... i'm really just an onlooker. saha happened to be in the squad more as a reserve keeper, yes? though his FC stats look handy. australia's depth was much-hyped but we've managed to falter somewhat. ashes 2005 / mcgrath shows that depth isn't always as it appears, players will always find it hard to come in and perform in one-off situations, questions of depth are really answered long-term i think. which is why i think india will struggle to stay #1 in the medium term, even though i can't really comment on their depth. there's no real reason to believe they have any less depth than someone like australia.

duminy looks to be in free-fall, which is a shame. wish he would have ****ed it all up in the mcg test rather than wait until now.

[sudzz]

India certainly has a problem in this test match but according to me there is no problem with depth or quality of replacements etc.

Badri is certainly test class and will only improve, Rohit and Kohli have the talent but not the temprament right now, Raina is being wasted unnecessarily according to me he is as exciting a prospect as M Clarke was when he first came on.

The big problems are Yuvraj keeps getting selected and he is just not test class , Harbhajan is and has been bowling tripe for a long time now, 10 years is a long time to ride of the glories of that one success against the Aussies.

As others have pointed out Zaheer is already in his 30's, Sreesanth is blow hot blow cold, other pacers have to get their body and mind sorted out big time and we dont have any great spinner in the offing therefore the problem is in the bowling area over the longer term and not as much among batters who will all develop in a short while.

[Buddy]

India certainly has a problem in this test match but according to me there is no problem with depth or quality of replacements etc.

Badri is certainly test class and will only improve, Rohit and Kohli have the talent but not the temprament right now, Raina is being wasted unnecessarily according to me he is as exciting a prospect as M Clarke was when he first came on.

The big problems are Yuvraj keeps getting selected and he is just not test class , Harbhajan is and has been bowling tripe for a long time now, 10 years is a long time to ride of the glories of that one success against the Aussies.

As others have pointed out Zaheer is already in his 30's, Sreesanth is blow hot blow cold, other pacers have to get their body and mind sorted out big time and we dont have any great spinner in the offing therefore the problem is in the bowling area over the longer term and not as much among batters who will all develop in a short while.

Really good post.

India's batting depth is not the problem, it's the bowling depth that's a worry.

Sharma's gone from one of the best young quicks in the world, to a shadow of his former self. As many people have said, if India keeps building wickets which are practically roads, Sharma will follow the 'illustrious' array of Indian quicks who haved transformed from right arm fast, to right arm slow.

In addition, the sad thing is the lack of depth in the spin bowling department. Mishra and Harbhajan excluded, there's noone really knocking the door down ...

[DaRick]

Really good post.

India's batting depth is not the problem, it's the bowling depth that's a worry.

Sharma's gone from one of the best young quicks in the world, to a shadow of his former self. As many people have said, if India keeps building wickets which are practically roads, Sharma will follow the 'illustrious' array of Indian quicks who haved transformed from right arm fast, to right arm slow.

In addition, the sad thing is the lack of depth in the spin bowling department. Mishra and Harbhajan excluded, there's noone really knocking the door down ...

The Indian pacers aren't only being stymied due to roads - too often, the excessive adulation many tyro pacers receive after a good start to their international career seems to...well, distract them from their game, as they come to terms with it all. It can be hard when you end up underperforming and those who built you up are suddenly tearing you down. It's happened to Pathan, Balaji, RP Singh (who wasn't very good, anyway) and now Sharma. Sreesanth has avoided that trap to a certain extent, but he has his own issues to deal with.

[apollo_creed]

wouldn't have anything to do with having 558 runs on the board
I love it.

any excuse will do.

if it was a flat road, 500 or whatever wouldn't matter. india would play for a draw and they'd get it.

for ****s sake. india's pitches are no different from australia's.

this criticising players every time they make runs there business is so pathetic. and hypocritical.

[DT_fanatic]

you are kidding yourself if you think scoreboard pressure has no effect on the team up against it. it's not an excuse, just a fact of cricket.

i also agree with the sentiments re: the lack of bowling depth in india. i have always thought our batting would be fine. i am also confident sharma will be back to his old self sooner or later. i think he has done OK at test level recently and time is on his side.
i do like the idea that we have a lot of young bowlers out there at the moment who i think have too much potential not to come back at an older age and do well in test cricket. people forget zaheer khan followed a very similar path. burst on the scene and then faded out only to come back and be our best bowler.

[dumb]

i'm finding cricinfo to be a bit of a bitch lately (strange load times on the scorecards), but apparently tendulkar has made a century and gotten out.

[Adelaide Hawk]

India getting smashed ... good for cricket :thumbsu:

[Cousin Jed]

i'm finding cricinfo to be a bit of a bitch lately (strange load times on the scorecards), but apparently tendulkar has made a century and gotten out.

Yeah the scorecards have been taking an age to load for a while now.

[bLuEbOy1984]

Tenders is king... got to love the man... another 100.. get to 50 centuries sachin... only 3 left

[dumb]

dhoni out, writing is on the wall. india 220/6, still 105 behind. harris getting amongst it now.

[Stormers]

and there it is, excellent performance by the Proteas, outplayed the Indians in evry fact of the game, unless India make a dustbowl in Kolkata I really can't see how SA won't win this series, well played SAFFAS, and thank you for scoring me some money

["josh]

Good performance by us.

Our pace attack is very nice, but to me we're lacking a top class spinner. Imran Tahir was called into the side to play England, but hasn't qualified as a full South African, which is disappointing as I've heard good things bout him.

[damochandler]

piss poor performance by india. i watched a bit of it on the first 2 days and south africa looked a far better team than india. sharma looks hopelessly out of sorts

[Buddy]

South Africa are just outstanding. First test loss for Dhoni as captain - hopefully the team learns from it for next time.