*Official* South Africa in India

[silentstriker]

I would set fire to BCCI's offices if I were Badrinath. That guy has just been screwed. Please get him a game already.

 

[silentstriker]

Is this series being showed on Foxsports? ( somebody please say yes )

Hoping SA can win this series and I think they can aswell. Hoping Steyn can rip into India..India don't play quality fast bowling well at times, but they probably won't have to worry about that because the pitches will most likely be flat in India..

Hopefully not. Hoping for Kanpur pitches, but you're right and they might be flat.

 

[honestbharani]

has the team been annouced? it is to be picked tomm right? Why are we talking as if Badri has been, well, Badrinathed...

 

[R_D]

has the team been annouced? it is to be picked tomm right? Why are we talking as if Badri has been, well, Badrinathed...

Yeah it'll be announced tomorrow.... Kaif inline for return according to some sites.... double hundred and 100 odd in another match in duleep trophy.
As for Badrinath.. doesn't do himself too many favors by not scoring at the right time... he could've put himself right in front of the queue by scoring a century or 2 in the duleep trophy but i think he just failed against Central zone not sure how did in the other match.

I do hope he gets picked ahead of Kohli and Pandey though..... both of those guys are talented but they need to play another season or 2 more of domestic cricket.

 

[R_D]

Is this series being showed on Foxsports? ( somebody please say yes )

Hoping SA can win this series and I think they can aswell. Hoping Steyn can rip into India..India don't play quality fast bowling well at times, but they probably won't have to worry about that because the pitches will most likely be flat in India..

If you have Setanta sports.... its going to be on that.
Surprised Fox sports is not covering this tour... they cover almost all of South African tours.

 

[silentstriker]

Kaif? KAIF? KAAAAAAIF?

Please no.

 

[Shri]

Good chance to test the batting bench strength in tests. Would prefer the young players to get a chance tbh. Pujara or Pandey.

 

[King Pietersen]

He's not too old. He's 29. Ridiculous reason for picking inferior players, really cannot understand why Badrinath isn't getting picked by India. FC average of 58.63 yet he can't get a look in, and players that have shown clear technical deficiencies against the short ball in International cricket in Raina and Sharma are being talked about. Cannot see the logic.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Does this topic really need to be separate from the tour thread?

 

[0RI0N]

^^^ n0

 

[Sir Alex]

Does this topic really need to be separate from the tour thread?

No.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Merged. The redirect will expire in 1 hour so people don't get confused...until then.

 

[Sir Alex]

It is surprising that this thread is not yet stickied considering the No.1 rank is at stake here.

BTW the squad for 1st test has been announced. There are no major surprises except perhaps the inclusion of Wriddiman Saha. Domestic wicket list topper Abhimanyu Mithun has been included as backup seamer.

Squad for first Test: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha.

Likely playing XI :

V Sehwag
G Gambhir
M Vijay
S Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
S Badrinath
M Dhoni
H Singh
P Ojha / A Mishra
Z Khan
I Sharma

A bit angry that C Pujara was not given a chance. He might not have made the XI but being part of the International team would certainly give him good experience.

 

[Arjun]

BTW the squad for 1st test has been announced. There are no major surprises except perhaps the inclusion of Wriddiman Saha. Domestic wicket list topper Abhimanyu Mithun has been included as backup seamer.

Squad for first Test: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Wriddhiman Saha.

Likely playing XI :

That's a very weak bowling attack, and will struggle to take 20 South African wickets. The batting won't be strong enough to offset the bowling weakness, unless square turners like Mumbai (2004) or Kanpur (2008) are prepared. Vinay Kumar or Irfan should have been picked on domestic form. Vinay is in the Board XI for the two-dayer, and should have a good game, to get his place in the XI. Sometimes, the selectors' (or captain's) ideas are questionable.

 

[Sir Alex]

That's a very weak bowling attack, and will struggle to take 20 South African wickets. The batting won't be strong enough to offset the bowling weakness, unless square turners like Mumbai (2004) or Kanpur (2008) are prepared. Vinay Kumar or Irfan should have been picked on domestic form. Vinay is in the Board XI for the two-dayer, and should have a good game, to get his place in the XI. Sometimes, the selectors' (or captain's) ideas are questionable.

Haha, you seriosuly beleive 127 kmph like Vinay Kumar and Pathan can get this SA team out on our pitches? Spin is the key and if I had my way, I 'd prepare rank turning dustbowls and play 3 spinners.

 

[Cruxdude]

That's a very weak bowling attack, and will struggle to take 20 South African wickets. The batting won't be strong enough to offset the bowling weakness, unless square turners like Mumbai (2004) or Kanpur (2008) are prepared. Vinay Kumar or Irfan should have been picked on domestic form. Vinay is in the Board XI for the two-dayer, and should have a good game, to get his place in the XI. Sometimes, the selectors' (or captain's) ideas are questionable.

Zaheer, Ishant >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Vinay, Irfan.

 

[Shri]

Zaheer has come out of his rustiness and has started reversing the ball again. The two spinners Bhajji and Mishra are not push overs by any means. The series should be an exciting contest.

 

[Arjun]

Vinay Kumar and Irfan have bowled in the late 120's and have often touched 130k, which isn't bad at all. Moreover, pace or no pace, they have the wickets and the runs (Irfan has been his team's premier batsman, and is far from a mediocre medium-pacer that he's thought of lately) to show, and are in good domestic form- on the other hand, we're seeing an off-colour Ishant and Sreesanth get Test caps, and a less deserving Tyagi sitting on the bench. While these two may be in the team purely for adding an extra bowler and completing 20 wickets, they're competent, and are worthy of a debut or recall.

 

[R_D]

Good to see the selectors being bit more consistent these days....
I remember when people like Murali Vijay and Badrinath used to be in the squad as back up and than when actual injury happens and these guys would be the next one to be in the team... but instead they'd pick some random from domestic to play

Happy for Badrinath and hope he and Vijay get a century..... would be so awesome.

 

[Oscillatingmind]

2 tests, what a joke.