***Official*** India in South Africa 2021-22

[honestbharani]

Chahar is a decent call. But dunno if it swings much in Cape Town. He could have been awesome there at Jo'burg though.

 

[Apex Predator]

nah ishant is done i think unless he stops playing with niggles and sorts his **** out

if shami's shoulder issue is serious, i would bring in umesh for siraj and chahar/nagaswalla for shami

Selectors missed a trick with Prasidh by dropping him from Test squad. His pace & bounce would have come very handy on this trip. Chahar/Nagwaswalla are substandard I think. Saini out bowled these guys easily in the A series. He is ahead of them in pecking order

 

[Apex Predator]

I expect the final test to be a fiery affair... There is some definite needle between two sides. Donno why this is giving me BGT 2017 vibes.

 

[Shri]

Chahar/Nagwaswalla are substandard I think

no

 

[Shri]

Chahar is a decent call. But dunno if it swings much in Cape Town. He could have been awesome there at Jo'burg though.

even if it doesn't swing chahar is accurate enough to make run scoring difficult on a good day if the tactics are great

 

[Apex Predator]

no

Chahar isn't test match quality.. Dude was Trundling & bowling pies in the A tour. He is not even a ODI bowler. Nagwaswalla untested so far.

 

[karan_fromthestands]

Chahar isn't test match quality.. Dude was Trundling & bowling pies in the A tour. He is not even a ODI bowler. Nagwaswalla untested so far.

Chahar is pretty similar to Praveen Kumar, doesn't bowl express pace but excellent swing and accuracy. I would love to see him play in these conditions.

 

[Apex Predator]

Chahar is pretty similar to Praveen Kumar, doesn't bowl express pace but excellent swing and accuracy. I would love to see him play in these conditions.

Don't think conditions are offering a lot of swing. Seam movement is definately happening if you bowl in the channel. But Chahar is no Philander & lacks accuracy. I watched him bowl in A series he was seriously non threatening among all bowlers. Saini was comfortably pick of the bowlers in the A series. Height is a big factor to generate lift to get short leg into play as well. Chahar isn't even in main squad I guess

 

[ankitj]

Bowling was disappointing. Saw too much of intimidating tactics (those crap bouncers!) than sticking to a plan and executing patiently. Even in phases when you are not getting wickets, you should not be going at 4-5 rpo.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Saini is a dumbass. If you thought Bumrah and Shami blew it with the short stuff, wait till Saini gets his paws (hooves? because he's gormless like a bovine) on the ball in a similar situation.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Bowling was disappointing. Saw too much of intimidating tactics (those crap bouncers!) than sticking to a plan and executing patiently. Even in phases when you are not getting wickets, you should not be going at 4-5 rpo.

I'd have been livid as captain/coach at that trash from Bumrah and Shami. Sometimes a captain has to put his foot down and tell his bowlers to **** off with their pretensions and stick to the basics.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Even if it was a tactic to go heavy with the short stuff (which might have worked given the dodgy bounce at times) the execution was atrocious. Was embarrassing how many flew over the batsman's head. Thakur was let down badly by the rest.

 

[artvandalay]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1479126306856091655

Not sure if this is actually the case but we did misread the 3rd innings imo when it looked like we were in a hurry. all fair in hindsight though.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Cricviz are pretty ****e

 

[TT Boy]

Is the above the same as xG and xA? Not bollocks, has some value, but "they actually bowled better than SA in both innings" makes me question what I watched.

 

[artvandalay]

Is the above the same as xG and xA? Not bollocks, has some value, but "they actually bowled better than SA in both innings" makes me question what I watched.

It appears so. I'm not entirely sure how it works for cricket though i must admit.

 

[Dendarii]

Don’t think South Africa will add an extra batsman for Cape Town. More likely Linde or Mulder coming in for Maharaj as opposed to Rickelton debuting.

I think South Africa will stick with the same team. Boucher spoke afterwards about Jansen's batting, so it seems like they might be trying to fast track him into becoming an allrounder without first allowing him time in domestic cricket to see just what his batting's like.

 

[Daemon]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1479126306856091655

Not sure if this is actually the case but we did misread the 3rd innings imo when it looked like we were in a hurry. all fair in hindsight though.

I'm not sure how any reasonable person could come to the bold conclusion that India bowled better than SA in that 4th innings. I don't think the data they've gathered here is to blame, it's the idiot behind the screen.

 

[cnerd123]

Cricviz doesn't try to impart any ideas into the stats - they just collect the data about balls bowled and the outcomes of each ball, and then use that to generate a predicted average for a ball bowled. It felt like India bowled a lot of really good balls but often let the pressure release with a boundary ball here and there. That's probably why the stats suggest they bowled well on average even if it didn't pan out that way. Also a lot of their good bowling often didn't have the field set up to support it, leading to more runs being conceded than should have been.

There was a 5 minute period after Rassie's wicket yesterday where India could have picked up Elgar and Temba both, but luck didn't go their way. Small moments like that can change a game. India didn't have much luck in both bowling innings.

I think cricviz calculations also factor in bowling speed, and this wasn't a pitch where you needed to be quick to be effective. SA were slower on average but more consistently in the right areas. India's pace might have given them a lower expected bowling average, but in reality SA's height and consistency was perhaps more effective.

 

[StephenZA]

So I don't normally like criticizing other teams players and I think India is an exceptional team. But I do think that Indian supporters are overblowing the quality of their seam attack. It is a very good attack, and they have very good control, but it feels like an attack that does a job without being scary. I understand at certain points that Thakur, Siraj, Shami and Bumrah have all bowled excellent spells. But none of those bowlers worry me, I don't think that they are going to bowl my side out. They need a newish ball in favourable conditions, and batsmen feeling the pressure and playing loose strokes. I think the fact that SA has an inexperienced batting line-up is the scary part as a SA supporter.

As an extreme example, I worry about every time Cummins comes on to bowl for Aus against SA just because he can do something special. Or a Broad, or Anderson. When you watched Rabada's spell there felt like an inevitability that he would start taking wickets, and possibly change the game, regardless of who was batting. I just never get that feeling with the current Indian bowlers bowling. Maybe it is a mindset because it is an Indian fast bowler, but I do remember feeling that sometimes with Zaheer Khan (always rated him).

I say all this because chasing down that total never felt like it was 'would the Indian bowlers get SA batsmen out', it felt more along the lines 'did the SA batsmen have the fortitude to survive and get the total'. The pitch was doing a bit here and there but it was not unplayable, and Wanderers always has the potential to be a fast scoring ground once you are in.

As an aside, I am very old school, and believe you play your best 6 batsmen, 4 best bowlers and wk. Hopefully their is a decent allrounder and wk/batsmen in there. I think this 5 bowler strategy of India is hurting them long term.