India evens series in South Africa

[dufresne]

The Indian team finished off South Africa in style on the fourth day. Watched the game all night and I am having red eyes now. Sreesanth set the tone with that delivery that squared Kallis up. I am glad that the SA team was taking it in the chin. They talked way too much before this game but India delivered when it mattered the most.

The India players were having a go at all the batsmen yesterday. Zaheer, Ishant and Sreesanth has to be restrained by the umps on more than one occasion. India well and truly played like the number one team in the world. I hope they win the last match and shut up all the doubters for good.


Added later:-

How about VVS Lakshman, he is what they call as "clutch" in the US. A real stud, if they ever create a Hall of Fame for cricketers he should be voted in first.

[oasis138]

The Indian team finished off South Africa in style on the fourth day. Watched the game all night and I am having red eyes now. Sreesanth set the tone with that delivery that squared Kallis up. I am glad that the SA team was taking it in the chin. They talked way too much before this game but India delivered when it mattered the most.

The India players were having a go at all the batsmen yesterday. Zaheer, Ishant and Sreesanth has to be restrained by the umps on more than one occasion. India well and truly played like the number one team in the world. I hope they win the last match and shut up all the doubters for good.


Added later:-

How about VVS Lakshman, he is what they call as "clutch" in the US. A real stud, if they ever create a Hall of Fame for cricketers he should be voted in first.

Now all eyes on Capetown in 3 days time..

But yes quite a remarkable comeback after the first game..good to see almost everybody chip in...

[PeterGriffin]

I think India still has plenty of problems with its bowling attack. I doubt if they'll be able to do the same with SA's batting in the next test. Kallis, Amla and Smith are not match to the club bowlers in Ishant and Sreesanth. Zak and Bhajji will have to carry the attack to SA. It is going to be an arduous task.
We are a World No. 1 team with the best batting order and a 3rd rate bowling order.

[dufresne]

I think India still has plenty of problems with its bowling attack. I doubt if they'll be able to do the same with SA's batting in the next test. Kallis, Amla and Smith are not match to the club bowlers in Ishant and Sreesanth. Zak and Bhajji will have to carry the attack to SA. It is going to be an arduous task.
We are a World No. 1 team with the best batting order and a 3rd rate bowling order.

I think India demonstrated effectivley that they can indeed take 20 wickets in a test match. This is not a once in a while occurence. We have evidence to back that up in the last two years. No team can have all time best XI batting and bowling for them. All you need is 3 world class batsmen, two great bowlers and role players for the rest of the positons. We do have that in the current team. If India wins the toss and gets a green pitch then watch out.

Never forget that SA are a bunch of chokers, turn up the heat and they wilt under the pressure.

[cyberabadi]

India can remain a # 1 team as long as the batting order clicks together. The best thing they did in the 2nd test was dropping Raina for Pujara. I am fan of Raina but he had his chances and now its Pujara's turn. And, the Kohli guy is waiting in the wings.

Zak, Bajji are world class. Ishant, Sreesant are good on their days. Whatever happened to RP.Singh, Mithun and a few others who showed talent but vanished of the radar. Amit Mishra is no good to back up Bajji. Ojha is more of containing bowler than an attacking spinner. Piyush Chawla needs a chance in the tests again. Its time India selects a couple of good bowlers, stick to them and groom them to back up the current bowlers.

[PeterGriffin]

I think India demonstrated effectivley that they can indeed take 20 wickets in a test match.
[/quote]
A world No. 1 team doesn't need this qualifier. It is given that they have the ability to take 20 wickets of any opposition. But the question is how convincingly can they do this? This test match did not prove that. They got 20 wickets alright but the presence of UDRS could have seen a different result. Anyways, I don't want to discuss luck here since its part of any game in any country. My opinion is that this test match doesn't prove anything for India. They still have a long way to go to prove that they genuinely are World No. 1.

Never forget that SA are a bunch of chokers, turn up the heat and they wilt under the pressure.

I don't get this. I see this term used by many writers and I feel that its a sweeping generalization. Sure, they've lost a few key contests but most teams haven't even made it to those deciders. India failed miserably in the last two T20 championships, so can we term them as hopeless? Teams change every season and there's no telling what the new guys are capable of.

I wouldn't put my money on India in the next test.

[oasis138]

A world No. 1 team doesn't need this qualifier. It is given that they have the ability to take 20 wickets of any opposition. But the question is how convincingly can they do this? This test match did not prove that. They got 20 wickets alright but the presence of UDRS could have seen a different result. Anyways, I don't want to discuss luck here since its part of any game in any country. My opinion is that this test match doesn't prove anything for India. They still have a long way to go to prove that they genuinely are World No. 1.


I don't get this. I see this term used by many writers and I feel that its a sweeping generalization. Sure, they've lost a few key contests but most teams haven't even made it to those deciders. India failed miserably in the last two T20 championships, so can we term them as hopeless? Teams change every season and there's no telling what the new guys are capable of.

I wouldn't put my money on India in the next test.

PG

The ICC rankings while not perfect do tend to weight the opposition, venue etc a bit more most other ranking systems in place across variety of sports worldwide where you get a standard set of points irrespective of who you play. Further the rankings have been in place for quite a few years now. As someone pointed out above India has done well home and abroad and have not lost a lot of test matches (leave alone series). Overall the ICC system rewards consistency and ability to beat top teams and i dont think you can disagree that this team has done both.

You also throw in T20 performance. Lets keep that aside...I agree that on T20 stage we are probably no 4 or 5.

[PeterGriffin]

Zak, Bajji are world class. Ishant, Sreesant are good on their days. Whatever happened to RP.Singh, Mithun and a few others who showed talent but vanished of the radar. Amit Mishra is no good to back up Bajji. Ojha is more of containing bowler than an attacking spinner. Piyush Chawla needs a chance in the tests again. Its time India selects a couple of good bowlers, stick to them and groom them to back up the current bowlers.

I've always wondered that we've not been able to find a tearaway fast bowler like Waqar or Shoaib or Mitchell Johnson. I'm not even asking for Wasim Akram here. Its hard to believe that a country of a billion people cannot find one good fast bowler who can bowl in the 150ks.
A good swing bowler like Zaheer can bowl on any track. But we need a good pace bowler in our armoury for tracks like Perth or Centurion or Kingston. When Munaf came into the scene, he was regarded to be India's Waqar Younis. A few matches later, he was slower than Srinath.

[oasis138]

I think India still has plenty of problems with its bowling attack. I doubt if they'll be able to do the same with SA's batting in the next test. Kallis, Amla and Smith are not match to the club bowlers in Ishant and Sreesanth. Zak and Bhajji will have to carry the attack to SA. It is going to be an arduous task.
We are a World No. 1 team with the best batting order and a 3rd rate bowling order.

Ishant - Still raw (he's barely 20) so give him time.

Sree - Has been working on his emotional side of things...its a tricky balance since emotions also get best out of him..agree he's quite inconsistent but when the conditions support swing and he's in the mood he's world class.

[oasis138]

I've always wondered that we've not been able to find a tearaway fast bowler like Waqar or Shoaib or Mitchell Johnson. I'm not even asking for Wasim Akram here. Its hard to believe that a country of a billion people cannot find one good fast bowler who can bowl in the 150ks.
A good swing bowler like Zaheer can bowl on any track. But we need a good pace bowler in our armoury for tracks like Perth or Centurion or Kingston. When Munaf came into the scene, he was regarded to be India's Waqar Younis. A few matches later, he was slower than Srinath.

There are a lot of factors for this -
1. Lack of role model as in lack of fast Indian bowlers historically makes most folks pick up a bat versus a ball as they grow up. Compare this to Pak where historically lots of role models to emulate in fast blowing dept.
2. Pitches - Indian pitches are among the slowest in the world..no doubt abt that...Under Imran in late 80's PCB re laid most of their pitches to support fast bowling
3. Diet- I'm personally not a big believer of this but lack of red meat in our diet has been pointed out as a factor as well. Its rumored that Srinath was asked to leave idli/dosa and pick up chicken on this first tour to SA which he did. Ppl have said same for Ishant.. (tall but lacks muscle buildup against likes of sohaib/wasim etc)

Finally not sure that we need to have someone bowiling at 150k to win us games consistently...keep in mind fast bowlers are also extremely injury prone...

Also looks at Aussies...Mcgrath was a swing bowler and Warne a spinner...

To me bigger concern is lack of quality spinners post Kumble and Bhajji. that's been our strength..