**Official** South Africa in India Thread

[nikhil1772]

Right,but I hope Pathan's turn to bat in this innings does not come...

 

[neutralguy]

i see this match going india's way if they make between 500-550. if not another stalemate is in offer.
Laxman must be infact sent at one down, as he is proen to bat well at that position. he has promoted to that position in mumbai match against aus where he contributed, but again when ganguly is back, laxman is pushed back to his 4 down position where he has to bat with all those tail-enders.so no wonder ends up getting out quickly.

 

[nikhil1772]

The score of 500-550 is seeming unlikely now that Sehwag is out...

No comments on Laxman...ok only one...The only way to make Laxman make a big score is somehow hypnotize him and convince him its the Australian bowling attack he is facing which is without Mcgrath,Gillespie...

 

[DocHead]

Ja, that's the way Makkie! Don't make me wake up at 5.30am for nothing! Now if Hallie and Polly can get Dravid & Sachin!

Skittle them out or grind that run rate to crushing halt. Eventually you'll get everyone but Dravid out having a slog.

 

[Jono]

I really wanted Sehwag to have two 100s in two test matches.

 

[JustTool]

Tendulkar is over-rated

Tendulkar needs to focus, not just 80% as he currently is, but 100% on his restaurant, apparel and endorsement businesses. He should retire now or focus more on cricket and less on making money. He has just completely lost it in the last few years and even with a life he still couldn't get past 20 against a benign bowling attack.

Cannot believe these guys milk the Indian populace as they do even when they consistently don't produce - and, Tendulkar leads the pack followed by Ganguly.

 

[Sehwag309]

The score of 500-550 is seeming unlikely now that Sehwag is out...

No comments on Laxman...ok only one...The only way to make Laxman make a big score is somehow hypnotize him and convince him its the Australian bowling attack he is facing which is without Mcgrath,Gillespie...

...that wouldn't work now either

 

[JustTool]

No, I said that had it been Bucknor you'd have had a hissy fit and claimed he's biased.

But it wasn't, so you decided not to.

Are you always as grumpy as the picture you chose shows - or is it just the wonderful, English weather ?

 

[JustTool]

This gem from the cry baby Lloyd:

While addressing an audience at the Demerara Cricket Club Ground in Guyana, the most successful West Indian captain said, “It’s obvious that this guy (Sourav Ganguly) feels he is above the game, but we have rules.

“Cricketers need to play by the rules. Discipline is very important for the game’s future. The captain is responsible for his team and their performance on the field — if you are out there and your player misbehaves you are responsible.”

Another example of how moronic Lloyd and Bucknor have been in trying to exact revenge for the WI's 1983 world cup loss to India. There was an appeals process (Hello, Lloyd - the RULES were made by the ICC regarding the appeals process so YOU are the one who is now CRYING about the rules) and Lloyd was over ruled. This, is in-fact to weed out any bias that might creep in.

If you read's Lloyd's rantings carfeully Steve Waugh would have been banned a long time ago based on how the Aussie players 'behaved' on the field.

Lloyd's statements reek of his personal dislike for Ganguly - such a person does not deserve to be a match referee.

 

[JustTool]

More on Tendulkar from CricInfo:

In recent years there has been a growing opinion that Tendulkar's caution has tended to override his instinct. The cover-drive, once his most profitable and identifiable stroke, has been all but removed, and power, his hallmark, is often abandoned for glides and turns around the corner. He has said that this change is in the interest of the team, but the facts are a bit different: In 15 of his last 25 innings he has been out for less than 10.

 

[Arjun]

Pathan certainly has some potential in my eyes. But he's not, of course, good enough yet, otherwise he would be scoring already.

He's not been encouraged to score runs- this is where the coach and captain are important. They should make him work on his batting with Sehwag and learn a few of his tricks. Pathan's batting style is a little different- he doesn't play so many false shots, but hits big shots while sticking to the book. If Woolmer can get more runs out of Malik and Afridi, why can't Wright get more out of Pathan?

Quite frankkly, he shouldn't be playing in the Indian side, since he has no chance of improving as a batsman there. He should play a full season for Baroda as a hard-hitting Number 6 batsman, then play a full tournament with the A-team, then retrn. Mahen Dhoni was a nondescript keeper, before his India A debut. After some power-packed innings, selectors are now considering him as a wicketkeeping all-rounder. Maybe Pathan can get lots of runs there, because he is under-achieving with the bat when he plays for the national team.

 

[warrioryohannan]

. If Woolmer can get more runs out of Malik and Afridi, why can't Wright get more out of Pathan?

.

Why are you so critical of Wright? He has done a decent job as the coach of Indian team.It's hardly fair to held the coach responsible if a particular player isn't scoring enough runs.

 

[Deja moo]

Typical Sehwag, really.
Almost invariably some luck mixed in there, totally forgotten because of all the extravagance that surrounds it.

The only luck he had there was in not being given out LBW , and that sort of luck visits almost every batsman sometime or the other.

There is no luck involved in the way he bats though. Just because he plays his shots just past the fielders doesnt make him lucky. The bottomline is that players like him and Gilchrist hit the ball hard enough to ensure that the fielders have no chance of getting the ball in the first place .

 

[shaka]

Dravid out now

 

[Richard]

The only luck he had there was in not being given out LBW , and that sort of luck visits almost every batsman sometime or the other.

Yes, and it's happened to Sehwag far, far more than natural over the last year, and very often it's resulted in huge scores.

There is no luck involved in the way he bats though. Just because he plays his shots just past the fielders doesnt make him lucky. The bottomline is that players like him and Gilchrist hit the ball hard enough to ensure that the fielders have no chance of getting the ball in the first place .

Except when it goes straight to them and they drop them - which actually happens a hell of a lot.

 

[Richard]

If Woolmer can get more runs out of Malik and Afridi, why can't Wright get more out of Pathan?

I'm yet to see the evidence that Bob has really improved Shahid Afridi. And if we look at the facts, he hasn't actually got any more runs out of Shoaib Malik - Malik has always got runs when put in the top four in ODIs - it's just Woolmer was the first to have the sense to bat him there with some consistency.

 

[Richard]

As Rudolph drops "a sitter" to Ganguly.
Their fielding really has been terrible this series.

 

[Deja moo]

Yes, and it's happened to Sehwag far, far more than natural over the last year, and very often it's resulted in huge scores.

Proof ?

Except when it goes straight to them and they drop them - which actually happens a hell of a lot.

Again, if they hit it harder than most batsmen, the fielder would find it hard to hold the catches . That is a plus for those batsmen, not a negative.

 

[marc71178]

They should make him work on his batting with Sehwag and learn a few of his tricks.

And ignore the fact that for all his promise, his bowling average (and remember that he's a bowler) is quite poor. Yes, so lets give him batting training instead

Quite frankkly, he shouldn't be playing in the Indian side, since he has no chance of improving as a batsman there.

Except he is not a batsman, and his FC record hasn't suggested he is.

 

[DocHead]

Tendulkar needs to focus, not just 80% as he currently is, but 100% on his restaurant, apparel and endorsement businesses. He should retire now or focus more on cricket and less on making money. He has just completely lost it in the last few years and even with a life he still couldn't get past 20 against a benign bowling attack.

Cannot believe these guys milk the Indian populace as they do even when they consistently don't produce - and, Tendulkar leads the pack followed by Ganguly.

Now don't get me wrong, I wish the Indian selectors thought exactly like you and dropped Ganguly, Dravid & Tendulkar, but.....

Erm, Tendulkar, a guy with the 2nd most test centuries in the history of cricket, with an average of 50something in over a decade and a half of cricket.....and the words 'consistently don't produce'

Excuse my language, but, WTF???

And the way you (not you per say, some people in this place) go on about Dravid as well, average of 57, the guy who the team can actually count on to dig them out the massive holes their airy-flairy batting lineup sometimes gets them in, is pretty incredible.

These are world-class batsmen, probably among the best we've even seen. In every series except this one, I love just watching them bat. Dravid is the ICC player of the year for chrissakes!

But, obviously a run of poor form over a few months negates all they've done in the past, making them worthless moneygrubbing tossers who've outstayed their welcome.