South Africa v India (3 Test matches, 3 ODIs)

[Blue1980]

Has there been a bigger series upset in the last 10? 15 years?

God knows what’s going on behind the scenes with India, they’ve been genuinely embarrassed.

I think just out played by SA, tough place to play.

 

[010203]

If you were to look at this through India eyes, this series has ended all square. India won a test, South Africa won a test and SuperSport won a test. Well done South Africa for coming from 1-0 down to win the series after a rare and disappointing loss at Centurion. Their pace bowlers have been impressive with Marco Jansen a real find. Despite their batting being their weakness, they came good with the bat in the 4th innings of the last two tests to win them both pretty comfortably.

 

[Sphynx]

Elgar is an impressive SA captain, he's no Graeme Smith but he's the next best thing.

Both are better than Hansie Cronje, they aren't chucking games and have restored respect for the Proteas.

lol, I don’t think it took them this series to get over Cronje….

 

[Blue1980]

Sri Lanka winning in South Africa a couple of years ago will take a lot of beating for all time series upsets let alone the last 15 years

That was the one which came to mind for me too.

Regardless how each side has been going, it’s hard to win away against most sides.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

If you were to look at this through India eyes, this series has ended all square. India won a test, South Africa won a test and SuperSport won a test. Well done South Africa for coming from 1-0 down to win the series after a rare and disappointing loss at Centurion. Their pace bowlers have been impressive with Marco Jansen a real find. Despite their batting being their weakness, they came good with the bat in the 4th innings of the last two tests to win them both pretty comfortably.

Pujara can’t catch.

 

[Ohitsthatguy]

Petersen's batting was very easy on the eye

 

[Park cricketer]

India need to move on from Pujara, Rahane and Aggarwal. I don't think Umesh Yadav should've played this test either. We have players but they need opportunity. A side I'd like to see moving forward is something similar to this:

1. Rohit
2. KL
3. Gill
4. Kohli
5. Iyer
6. Pant
7. Jaddu/Ashwin
8. Thakur
9. Shami
10. Bumrah
11. Siraj/Sharma

Mayank has failed outside of India, time to move on. Rohit is a good opener, albeit old. KL/Gill are our future and I like them in the top order for team balance. Iyer is suited to the middle order. Depending on conditions I would play 2 of Jaddu/Ashwin/Thakur, only in India would I play all 3 with Thakur being the 3rd seamer. Shami/Bumrah are our best 2 bowling options and a lethal combination. Siraj/Sharma should battle for 3rd seamer spot in most conditions.

Iyer won't succeed outside asia. Will have Vihari ahead of Iyer. Rest the same.

 

[SSwans2011]

Sri Lanka winning in South Africa a couple of years ago will take a lot of beating for all time series upsets let alone the last 15 years

West Indies beating England was the other one that came to mind for me. Granted, they were at home, and England have been pretty average since there.

 

[NYRB]

ive seen that Virat Kohli rant, i know it might sound like sour grapes, but those decisions where its iffy, im happy for the on field call to stand. The ball was shown to bounce higher- and ive thought about this the other day, why not get the 3rd umpire to decide just based on replay alone? give him at least 3 looks or have a best of 3 decision with the umps (2 on field and 1 as 3rd umpire) involved. I dont think technology can conclude that bounced higher over the wicket.

something didnt seem right looking at that on replay, and i actually thought it was out looking at 1st time.

 

[Gethelred]

Just pointing the facts he made some runs in the first 2 Test matches, unlike Starc who only contributed in the 1st out of 4 Tests and Lyon who didn't contributed all series when he had the chance to bowl on day 5 at the SCG and Brisbane and failed.

Lyon's weird as far as spinners go. If you look at his career stats, you'll find he's more likely to take a wicket on days 1 and 2 or in conditions that don't suit a traditional spinner, but less likely to take a wicket on day 5. He - essentially - averages better on days 1,2, and 3 than he does on day 4-5.

The question I've got for you: do you prefer having him take wickets while the quicks are at their best - ie, he helps us build first innings dominance - or would you take him being genuinely anemic in the first dig if it meant he was Graeme Swann in the fourth innings?

 

[Gethelred]

ive seen that Virat Kohli rant, i know it might sound like sour grapes, but those decisions where its iffy, im happy for the on field call to stand. The ball was shown to bounce higher- and ive thought about this the other day, why not get the 3rd umpire to decide just based on replay alone? give him at least 3 looks or have a best of 3 decision with the umps (2 on field and 1 as 3rd umpire) involved. I dont think technology can conclude that bounced higher over the wicket.

something didnt seem right looking at that on replay, and i actually thought it was out looking at 1st time.

Hawkeye's dodgier than the Australian parliament, and Kohli's just exposed something that's been sitting at the heart of SA cricket for a long time.

More power to him.

 

[Sea fog]

It's really not a huge upset, they've never beaten SA in a series in SA.

Bangladesh beating NZ in NZ... that's a huge upset.

India failing to win a series in SA is not a huge upset.

Except on current talent, India was the favourite.

 

[Nuggetz]

Iyer won't succeed outside asia. Will have Vihari ahead of Iyer. Rest the same.

Iyer hasn't played test cricket overseas yet, so it's hard to make a call on him. Vihari has played a few games and shown glimpses but nothing concrete.

 

[Ohitsthatguy]

Hawkeye's dodgier than the Australian parliament, and Kohli's just exposed something that's been sitting at the heart of SA cricket for a long time.

More power to him.

Woh, you ok bro?

Except on current talent, India was the favourite.

Rabada, Ngidi, Jansen all average low 20s in bowling

I rate India's bowling attack but they can't compete with that

 

[Trojan90]

West Indies beating England was the other one that came to mind for me. Granted, they were at home, and England have been pretty average since there.

Yeah this came to my mind too.

Also Sri Lanka beating England in England in 2014. SL still has Sanga and Mahela and England were post (KP, Trott, Swann). Only 2 test series but still not an easy job.

 

[Gethelred]

Woh, you ok bro?

... I suppose that depends. I've got Covid at the moment, but I don't think that's what you're talking about.

Do you think Hawkeye's predictions are satisfactorily accurate? Do you think South Africa's approach to total opposition at home is entirely appropriate?

 

[Sea fog]

BTW, Petersen was pretty good but thought that Jansen with 19 wickets in his very first series at 16 may have been the biggest factor. He's 206cm.

 

[Nuggetz]

I wonder if the QDK decision just took some pressure off the south africa team...

 

[NYRB]

Hawkeye's dodgier than the Australian parliament, and Kohli's just exposed something that's been sitting at the heart of SA cricket for a long time.

More power to him.

Very true- Kohli seemed to putting the blame on Super Sports coverage. And knowing those guys and listening to their commentary- they seemed as 1 eyed supporter as one can be.

Im thinking anyway maybe we might need to revisit the height of deliveries for LBWs? Allahudien Paleker happen to be the 3rd umpire - from South Africa. Whilst I dont blame him , maybe Super Sport or whoever provides the technology needs to have a relook into their product. Im not sure if the technology in South Africa is the same compared to Australia/England.

 

[Ohitsthatguy]

... I suppose that depends. I've got Covid at the moment, but I don't think that's what you're talking about.

Do you think Hawkeye's predictions are satisfactorily accurate? Do you think South Africa's approach to total opposition at home is entirely appropriate?

s**t, get well soon

But I mean, isn't hawkeye like an independent body... its like accusing our channel 7 of cheating

I mean... * Kerry Stokes but still lol

 

[Gethelred]

Very true- Kohli seemed to putting the blame on Super Sports coverage. And knowing those guys and listening to their commentary- they seemed as 1 eyed supporter as one can be.

Im thinking anyway maybe we might need to revisit the height of deliveries for LBWs? Allahudien Paleker happen to be the 3rd umpire - from South Africa. Whilst I dont blame him , maybe Super Sport or whoever provides the technology needs to have a relook into their product. Im not sure if the technology in South Africa is the same compared to Australia/England.

I genuinely do not thing it's that deep.

I see them as two distinct arguments. Essentially, Hawkeye's not up to it as a predictive technology due to the margin of error depicted with 'umpire's call' and SA's parochialism of coverage and support ensure that hostility during play is the least that can be expected.

 

[Stig O'Hara]

... I suppose that depends. I've got Covid at the moment, but I don't think that's what you're talking about.

You look after yourself mate.

 

[NYRB]

... I suppose that depends. I've got Covid at the moment, but I don't think that's what you're talking about.

Do you think Hawkeye's predictions are satisfactorily accurate? Do you think South Africa's approach to total opposition at home is entirely appropriate?

Ive been really a strong advocate for technology and DRS in the game.

Maybe we need to revert back to the 1 Review per 80 overs or so in test matches. Save them for the absolute howlers.

LBW decisions can never be 100% accurate due to the variable bounce on different surfaces on the wicket- which affects the height on impact. It also can't be 100% sure on the leg stump and off stump for those decisions. A cricket wicket has cracks, variable bounce, balls are tracking at slightly different angles, speeds , differing wind conditions etc

 

[Sea fog]

BTW SA losing that series to SL came down to a last wicket partnership from memory that was about 80 odd.

 

[Gethelred]

sh*t, get well soon

But I mean, isn't hawkeye like an independent body... its like accusing our channel 7 of cheating

I mean... fu** Kerry Stokes but still lol

Ashwin's a douche - hilariously so - and he'll get suspended, but I genuinely get the impression that Kohli fully believes in cricket the Australian way. He's committed to 'hard, but fair', and tries to get his team playing to the line without crossing it wherever he can. He asked the crowd not to boo Smith and Warner in England during the world cup; he's never been anything other than complementary towards us as a country and as a team. Look at Rahane's gift of a signed jumper to Nathan Lyon for his 100th test; there's respect there.

As I said above, I see it as two things, Hawkeye and the TV coverage. Hawkeye is a flawed technology, that advantages some countries (which produce shorter bowlers) over others, and the TV coverage actively watched the ball around our infield looking for balltampering because they didn't like that Faf got caught on their last tour on camera. Cricket SA officials backgrounded the SA public on Candice Warner, and distributed Sonny Bill Williams masks. Their crowds jeered, and continue to jeer, content in their supposed moral righteousness (as, I suppose, in the same way we were until Bancroft took Sandpaper out onto Newlands).

I've got all the time in the world for Kohli, and I've been more than insistent that the umpire should be the arbiter of whether or not the ball would hit the stumps in an LBW review (you would only be able to review for hitting in line with the stumps or pitching outside leg, or an inside edge, not line) because Hawkeye's ****ed. Seriously, do you know why they call it 'umpire's call' instead of actually depicting the uncertainty field? The actual field the ball could travel within the field is massive; it'd look like guessing, because it ******* is.