South Africa or India - Which team has the chance to be Number one ?

[Lambu]

I went for SA. As people have rightly mentioned,India's away,while has improved over the last few years,is certainly not as impressive as SA.They are virtually undefeated!! So atm India and Aus are chasing SA,i'm afraid..forget what the ranking tells you.

 

[biased indian]

think don't now the answer for the question !!!!

but surely Australia days of domination are over unless lee suddenly is back to old ways and they find a decent spinner

 

[honestbharani]

If RSA do beat Australia in this series and then at home too, I will have them as #1 in my rankings.. They have played excellent cricket all over the world and won so much.. As such they are closer to being #1 than India are and therefore, I pick them...

 

[Harry Harrison]

Not so sure yet.

It seems second one is also Richard. He might have said after seeing the mirror.

 

[Harry Harrison]

Yeah, ten years ago, not now

 

[protea lover]

I think if south Africa sweep this series they will dominate for a few years. Australia and India will need to rebuild with retirements but it will even up between south africa and india. I don't know about Australia though I think we could see a phase similar to Alan Border's. In which time australia will have a new skipper.

 

[Sanz]

I think it will be close but South Africa will prevail because they have a captain who has been around for a while, their batting looks solid. That said, their bowling, IMO, still needs some help .

India, seem to have found a decent opening pair, both Sehwag and Gambhir are going to be around, in the middle order Tendulkar and Laxman are going to be around for some time, atleast another 2-3 years. Spin bowling is a worry, Ishant, for all his bowling skills, hasn't been taking enough wickets to be called a match winner.

 

[protea lover]

No doubt about that. Choke Africa's win in subcontinent has come on non spin conditions. Oh wait till they tour Sri Lanka and get thrashed by Murlli and Mandis.

India have competed Australia even in their prime. Till the good batsmen Tandulkar and Laxmaan are around, they have better chance.

One thing you need to realise is that they are not bad players of spin and only stuggled against shane warne. I am sure we will have no problems accounting for sri lanka.

 

[Prad100w]

Well, i Personally think it will be quite even, if at all a slight edge in favour of the South Africans although i dont think both these teams deserve the no:1 slot until they prove the below criteria,

1) Current SA'can side to win in the sub-continent.

2) Current Indian side to win in SA or Aus.

Australia is rated no:1 because of their ability to win in all condtions. They beat india 2-1, beat SA at home, and SL 3-0(Remember SL is one of the toughest place to tour).

The reason why i give SA the edge is because they simply have a better away record than Indians and is virtually undefeated in all of their recent tours and
does have the age advantage with them compared to Indians. But Indians do have a talented pool of younsters still in their ranks. And atm if you compare the two batting line-ups, india does have the edge, While bowling kinda evens out. Again a tough call b/w the two.

My choice : South Africa.

 

[pasag]

None of the three will dominate, they just don't have the attacks for that, but if SA win this series and the return series they'll rightfully be number 1.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I personally don't think there will be a clear-cut number 1 nor team absolutely dominating out of any of the current lot for some time. Aus, India and SA will always be hard to beat at home and might take a few wins off each other away whilst schooling the rest.

Yeah, this.

All three sides have their strengths and potential weaknesses. Australia are going through a transitional period right now though, and India will probably have to go through one pretty soon, so South Africa seem to have the most solid foundation right now. Doesn't necessarily mean they will be the best side though, I think it'll be hard to split them.

 

[Sanz]

Yeah, this.

All three sides have their strengths and potential weaknesses. Australia are going through a transitional period right now though, and India will probably have to go through one pretty soon, so South Africa seem to have the most solid foundation right now. Doesn't necessarily mean they will be the best side though, I think it'll be hard to split them.

I think India are already going through the transition period, with Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly retirement. Dravid has not been contributing consistently either and basically been holding up someone's slot based on past reputation. LAx and Sachin ofcourse are the big names who will retire in next few years.

But Indian players have responded well compared to the Aussies and not forget Sourav+Kumble <<<<<<<<< Mcgrath+Warne

 

[Top_Cat]

I think India are already going through the transition period, with Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly retirement. Dravid has not been contributing consistently either and basically been holding up someone's slot based on past reputation. LAx and Sachin ofcourse are the big names who will retire in next few years.

But Indian players have responded well compared to the Aussies and not forget Sourav+Kumble <<<<<<<<< Mcgrath+Warne

Bit unfair to criticise the Aussies for not responding as well to retirements as India and on the other hand say McG + Warne were far bigger losses, though.

 

[Sanz]

Bit unfair to criticise the Aussies for not responding as well to retirements as India and on the other hand say McG + Warne were far bigger losses, though.

I should have been clear, I am not really criticizing Aussies at the same time, Lee has been a huge dissapointment.

 

[Top_Cat]

I should have been clear, I am not really criticizing Aussies at the same time, Lee has been a huge dissapointment.

Since India, yeah he has. Was very unlucky in the Perth Test, though.

 

[Burgey]

But Kumble aside, India's retirements haven't been top class bowlers, they've been/ will be batsmen. So, whilst their replacements may not be as effective, India's bowling stocks are relatively youthful and ought to therefore remain effective for a good while yet.

 

[Sanz]

But Kumble aside, India's retirements haven't been top class bowlers, they've been/ will be batsmen. So, whilst their replacements may not be as effective, India's bowling stocks are relatively youthful and ought to therefore remain effective for a good while yet.

Completely agree and that's why of the opinion that Australia's recent poor showing has a lot more to do with their poor bowling than the batting of Hayden/Ponting. Their decline is definitely there but not the main reason for Australia recent losses, which are not that huge anyway.

A series to India is always tough, even Waugh's men at their peak couldn't defeat India in 2001.

 

[Burgey]

AWTA. It's the bowlers, always was, always will be.

I accept Ponting's not the greatest captain, even in recent times, which Australia has had. But I really believe you cannot lay that much of the blame at his feet when he simply does not have the bowlers to consistently (as opposed to occasionally) both run through sides and get the team over the line in close matches.

Of course, some of these bowlers may develop into just that, and they don't have to be as good as Warne or McGrath to win games for Australia. It's just ATM they aren't at that level or anywhere near it.

It's a time for patience as an Aussie supporter right now, though I'm as guilty as any of being frustrated by their recent efforts.

 

[chaminda_00]

Sri Lanka will be No 1 for a long, just need to debut the new Sobers, Angelo Matthews.

You heard it here first.