Post South Africa series

A 1-1 is not a fair result in the end of the series which was well fought and dominated by India after the centurion drubbing. India lost the plot on day 4 when they allowed SA to race to 341 from 6/130. At that scoreline with an out of form Boucher and injured Kallis on the crease, it could have been a easy victory if any one of them was dislodged earlier. But India failed to cease the initiative.

Th captaincy became defensive, except for Zaheer and Harbhajan there were no intent from the other bowlers. One of them was even fined for his now usual (mis)behavior.  What is the use of such a bowler who is unable to provide the breakthroughs when needed and has his own set of rituals to follow even if the over rate is slow. I raised that point in one of the posts below and there it was, India was fined for slow over rate. Kallis was one of the factor behind the slow over rate when he frequently asked for physio during his not out innings.

A target of 340 was always going to be tough on day 5 wicket. And if India had any outside chances to win the test they were dependent on Sehwagasque start,alas he too switched off. he went to defensive mode and scored just 11 off 40 bals before getting out.

If Sehwag could have got going his trademark style who knows the Saffers would have been under some pressure.

Gambhir once again showed his class in 2nd innings, he not only played with an injured left arm, but also stuck out in the middle depriving the SA bowlers of any chances to flutter India.  He came good in this series in 2 tests he played. A 80 in last innings followed by patient, fighting 90 in this one. A century would have been better, but this team is not about the milestones, but the fighting spirits.

India lost horribly in the first test, came back great in 2nd to dismiss SA for 131 and almost won the 3rd test. It was a replica of 2007 when India messed up their batting in 2nd innings and this time it was the bowling.

The biggest question after this series would be Dravid. What next ? Is he going to wait till May to go to West Indies and England thereafter or would he call quits. There is no competitive cricket to follow for him except IPL 4 to help gain some batting form. But the question is how long will he prolong himself after a rut which has gripped him for a year now.

The question is how long would Sachin Tendulkar carry on. Would he retire after the World Cup? Or quit ODIs and continue tests. I think that would be the most possible scenario that he would give up ODIs to prolong his test career by a year or 2. This year is very important for India considering the tests it has to play in 4 continents or countries -- India, West Indies, England and Australia. We would be anticipating nothing less than wins in WI and Australia and an epic series to follow in England. And if India faces a mass exodus in its 3 best batsmen then does it have the replacements ready for the remaining greats of Indian great middle order of 2000s?

A lot of this would clarify in the coming months.

SA allege that Steve Davis was drunk going into Durban Test

Saffers like SriLanka are now coming up with a novel excuse for their loss in Durban Test. They aint blaming rains, weather, UDRS or the BCCI. They are blaming an Australian for their defeat.

The SA manager has come up with a weird finding that the umpire Steve Davis was drunk on Christmas day and he went into the test as drunk.  Now if he was drunk on evening before, how could he be still under the influence of alcohol good 10 hrs later?

And the reason for the ire on poor Davis is that he gave the so called dubious decisions to Boucher and DeVilliers in the 2nd innings of the Durban test.

Good lord they never or least faced Steve Bucknor at one of the ends else they would have been mad and they would have come up with some real weird allegations.

Like Sri Lanka, South Africa are not good losers.

By the way if Bucknor did not stand up in Sydney tests of 2004 and 2008, India would have won 2 series in Australia much before South Africa did in 2008.

Remember his decisions!!!!

THings around Durban Win

The Durban Test is conquered and the daemons of 14 years have been buried. And this was done on "one of the greenest ever tracks" we played on. This test was won by a team whose bowlers had a ? on "ability to take 20 wickets".  14 years back, the Donald and Pollock company had buried India for 100 and 66 and that was the worst display by the team ever since I started watching cricket.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman were part of that team.

But this team is different. This team is the top ranked team of the world and if there were any questions on the rank, they must be buried now. India bounced back in style on a green track on which Smith and co "have grew up on", yet they have lost last 3 tests in 3 years on Kingsmead.

The likes of Robin Jackman, Shaun Pollock and others were shut up hard when they saw how Zaheer and Harbhajan rolled Saffers for 131 in first innings on a "not so 131 looking pitch".

Shameful isnt it.

Losing in one's own backyard in conditions suiting the home team is a shame.

India has downplayed every achievement it has in past few years abroad. They have now won every where. And given the current form and situations, they should easily win in West Indies and Australia. A good contest would be in offing against England who are pipped for # 1.

England have not won a series against India home and away in 14 years. And so has South Africa in 4 years.

Zaheer, Laxman, Harbhajan, Sreesanth, Pujara and of course Ishant Sharma wrote the script for the victory. Presence of Zaheer Khan showed how much he is valuable to the Indian team. The attack looks potent from average and insipid. Only if Ishant Sharma could discover the form and passion of Australia 08 India's new ball attack would be better than it is right now.

Kallis jumping to form a reverse C would be the marquee vintage image of this series and for years to come. How could he not play short ball? He has grew up in such conditions. And so did Graeme Smith. He got out to a miscued pull off a short ball of short tempered Freesanth.  Only after pointing a bat to him after there was a personal thing between him and Freesanth.

I wont complaint. The situations leading to Cape Town test are similar to 2007 when India lost out on the day 3 and day 4 when Lord Harris strangulated Sachin and Dravid and after a Kallisque effort, SA won by 6 wkts. That was a Jaffer test and a Ganguly series. Coud not believe that Sehwag batted at 7 and BossDK batted at 2.

India had won at Joburg, lost at Durban then. This time lost in Centurion, won in Durban.

If Capetown is won, then this would be the best test series win of the decade. In a land which has tormented the cricket for last 17 years and has made mortals of greats. A 2-1 India would be a fitting result.

Durban test at a cliffhanger moment

The Durban test is at a very critical juncture where it could be anybody's Test. Its India who needs 7 wickets and its South Africa who needs 192 runs. 


SA have their 2 best batsmen on the crease in form of Kallis and AB. And India would love to have both of them as soon as possible to enforce a win and level the series. 


The key men for India would be indeed Zaheer and Harbhajan. Of course Ishant and Sreesanth would be there but they wont be as consistent as the former two and they would certainly be looking to shed their waywardness on the most important day of this series. 


A couple of wickets or 3 in the first session with not many runs given away would be a thing India would expect. And 70-90 runs with 1 wicket or 2 would be something South Africa would be looking to. 


In the end its going to be those crucial moments which would decide  who would win the game. The team which would seize and give nothing away would win this test match. And it would be great for Dhoni if he  tapes Sreesanth so that he does not piss anybody off and none of remaining Saffers plays a match winning innings.

Response to Graeme Smith 's questioning India's # 1 status

Ok this reading compels me to write a post.

India are top team in the Tests in the world for more than a year now. And this has not come down to India just cos of the mathematical formulae that go beyond calculating the ICC rankings and all. The results home and away reflect the consistency India has had over past 3 years starting England 2007 or perhaps before than that.  India reached # 1 ranking last year and has hung to it for 1 year and counting now. Its not like South Africa who reached # 1 in both formats of the game and slipped no later than they reached.  

There have been verbal volleys from the coach and the captain of SA how India have to win to prove their # 1 ranking. What if India wins? What if SA lose yet again to take 20 wickets? They failed to take 20 wickets in consecutive tests against weaker Pakistan which had no Yusuf in their ranks. They have not won a Test series at home beyond last 2 series. They drew against England and lost to Australia just after they won in Australia.

Same Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel failed to shut out the Pakistani batsmen in Sheikhland, who had been bruised and hurt by England in England and in Australia before.

"We've been touching the No. 1 and 2 spot for the past two-and-a-half-years and we've played some good cricket around the world. We pride ourselves on big series like this one". Smith says. But they have not clung on to that spot. They are not even 1, 2 or 3 in ODIs.

Their batters have been getting big runs every where but they have choked when it came to hitting the nail hard to win a series. They won in Nagpur in India but lost in Kolkata. So if they are tough nuts why did they lose out in India 2 times after winning first test every time. Why did they fail to dismiss Pakistan 2 times in 2 tests in last series they played?

Last year they drew against England but 2 times out of 3 in first 3 tests they were in winning positions but failed out to take last English wicket to win 3-1. So who is tough and who deserves a # 1?

India or South Africa?

India have consistently won test matches in absence of first choice bowlers most part of the times. They've found out somebody in the bwoling department who stands out and delivers.

In batting they have made 400 runs in 7 consecutive games and passed 300 in one of every 25 Tests they have played in since 2008. They have not lost a series in last 2 and half years.

South Africa have not won a Test series in their own backyard in 2 years, their own conditions pacy and bouncy aiding their fast bowlers, they still failed to take 20 wickets every Test they played. Their batsmen plundered runs, but their bowlers lacked the firepower to take 20 wickets consistently.

On the other hand India -- having a so called "world class bowling attack" have taken 20 wickets in alien conditions and in supporting conditions. They won in SL, when SA were blanked 0-3. They won in NZ. India saved test matches, won test matches, chased targets in 4th innings, won convincingly, made huge scores in first or second innings of a test giving enough time to their depleted bowlers to take 20 wickets.

If Sehwag does not do it, then Dravid does, if not Dravid then Laxman. Sachin always performs.

And whats this hype about the dislike for short balls? Who fails against them? Sachin? Dravid? Laxman? Sehwag?  If its just 2 batsmen -- Gambhir and Raina who are prone to short balls, then why label the entire team as succeptible to the short stuff. Try short stuff against Sehwag. Once or twice you might succeed, but be ready to face the music then. Remember 319? Remember this year's Kolkata test?

Does South Africa invite that awe which Australia had? They've never won in SL, India. They last won in India 10 years back and since then they have lost 1 and drew 2. They were blanked 0-3 in dead pitches of SL 4 years back.

Australia consistently whitewashed them this decade home and away until 2008 when they won 2-1 but lost the home series 1-2. They won in England but drew in home. They failed to shut out Pakistan who are at their weakest in terms of batting in their history.

It'd be better if Smith has a look at the side he's got and then do a pot shot to India. India has experienced customers who are too good to fall in this verbal childish trap of so called mind games. Focus on the play in the middle dude and not on the verbal volleys.

India vs SA preview

The battle of champion Test sides begin on thursday and there are clear favorites for this battle. Being an Indian fan, I would always gun for India. The reason being this is the best chance for India to win a series in SA for first time ever in the cricketing history. Last time India came close to do so, but Lord Harris strangled India and later Kallis bhia took the initiative and won the Captown test by 6 wkts for his side to win the series 2-1.

This time around there are lot of changed personnel in Indian side.

• First ever tour to SA with no Kumble. He was part of tours in 1992, 1996 and 2006. He was injured in 2001.
• India for first time has a settled and the best opening pair in the current scnearion in the Test cricket.
• Sehwag is in imperious form in Tests and he seems to be all set to erase the painful memories of 2007 tour when he was dropped following a horrible Test tour. He had made 48 in the middle order and had seen BossaDK promoted to the top along side Wasim Jaffer.
• Sachin Tendulkar would be keen to make his 50th 100 in Tests and move further close to the magical 100 100s mark.
• VVS Laxman would look forward to conquer SA too, something which he has not done in previous 3  tours.
• Zaheer Khan would be the trump to win a test in SA. If he is not around, as cricinfo suggests he is having injury concerns, then India would have hard task to take 20 wickets to win the tests.
• There would be no Ganguly at 5 or 6 to conquer the demons and it would be either Raina or Pujara who would take the guard at 6.
• Most probably the start up attack would be Zaheer, Sreesanth, Ishant and Harbhajan.
• Sreesanth is back to the land where he had got himself reckoned into the mainstream Indian bowling after stellar performance in Jo'burg which India won.

On the other hand SA is also a very high quality side in their own home turf.

They have deep batting line up till 8 and the presence of Kallis allows them to play 5 bowlers. The form of Amla would be tested against the Indians, whom he has developed a special liking.

Dale Steyn, as usual would be the most dangerous threat and if Sehwag is able to contain the man, the remaining bowlers would not be so tough to handle given the fact that the 3rd seamer would be inexperienced in Tsotobe.

The start of the Test would be a good attention seeker from the Ashes hype which has just maddened the old cricket world as if the rest of the cricketing countries do not exist.

Possible teams:

India : 1. Sehwag 2. Gambhir 3. Dravid 4. Tendulkar 5. Laxman 6. Raina 7. Dhoni 8. Harbhajan 9. Zaheer 10. Sreesanth 11. Ishant

South Africa : 1. A Pieterson 2. Smith 3. Amla 4. Kallis 5. AB 6. Prince 7. Boucher 8. Morkel 9. Steyn 10. Harris 11. Tsotobe

India 2 SA 1.

India vs SA, review

India was able to win the final Test in Eden Gardens and save its # 1 Test ranking.  The final day of play was rivetting and it almost ended in a draw, but thanks to the reborn Surd, the top ranked team defeated Saffers by innings margin, their largest win and managed to draw the series. 

Actually the last 4 series have been very tightly fought series between this 2 sides and yet the rivalry is not yet billed as the top class like India - Australia or Ashes or India - Pakistan or even Sri Lanka - Bangladesh.

Both teams have won tests each and won 1 series each with 2 drawn series (1-0 I 2004, 2-1 S 2006, 1-1 2008 and 2010)

The top performers for India were Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan as it was Hashim Amla for SA.

Graeme Smith had a forgettable series whereas Kallis could not repeat the magic of the Nagpur test in Eden Gardens. 

Not sure if Eden Test would mark a comeback for Surd to form of 2001-05.

There have been lot of false dawns before and he has just deceived us when we would have tend to believe that he is back to his prime form.

The so called young batsmen -- Dabri and Saha do not reflect well on the actual bench strength of Indian youth.  Dabri is no longer young and Saha was a no-brainer selection.

Before the judgement of the real bench strength is passed, we need to test the real performers of the domestic cricket. 

Eden Test preview

India play for pride and SA for the series. If India win this Test, they should retain the # 1 ranking. The batting would be stronger than what it was in first Test. With return of Laxman, it would be interesting to see where he bats. # 3 or # 6 ?

Gambhir and Sehwag failed to give the starts in the both innings of the first test and that was evident in the crumbling of the middle order in Nagpur, so Gambhir would need to find his golden touch soon again, not later than tomorrow if India bats first.

And other player to be on watchlist would be HArbhajan Singh, who has continued failing. Unfortunately Amit Mishra and Ojha have not performed well consistently to put the Turbonator under pressure.

It would be interesting to see if Dabrinath finds a place in the Test XI ?  Most prolly he would play, but would he score ?

Selectors do not learn

From their selection fiasco. Still no prominent batsmen to replace RD for the second Test. I am sure Cheeka wants to fill in half of Tamil Nadu players in the national team as replacement for every player. Any player gets injured or is dropped DK is in. Not many  days back he was dropped and he hit 2 tons in a futile game (in sense that did not help his team win) to be back in the team again. Amazing. What an effect he has got over the selectors and MSD. The likes of Pandey, Parthiv Patel and others would be scratching their head in disgust to see DK being back in the team. Have we lost the quality players that the likes of DK or Saha are being played ?

DK is not going to score runs in international games. That’s a well proven point. Why not go beyond him and chose Pujara ? What else he needs to do  ? DK has scored two tons in a game. Pujara has scored eons of them in last 2 years, just that he does not have a Srikanth like figure in the national selection committee, he is not able to break in, else he has done everything he could to get a chance. If Badrinath gets in for so called strong domestic performance, then Pujara is no lesser than him. For that matter even Kohli is more deserving than Karthik to be in the team. His strong performances in the last 3 ODI series as replacements are indicative of his claim.

Yuvraj made a strong name for himself in ODIs and then he came into the Test side, for that matter even Kaifu did the same. He was deserving more than DK. Only if somebody from North Zone was head of the selection committee.

Srikanth and DBV were part of the team that changed the fortunes of the Indian cricket 80s ownwards and they were expected to be level headed players or somebody with sane mind who would give more weightage to the form than the region of the player. Unfortunately that did not happen. If likes of Jaffer got umpteen opportunities in place of Sehwag in 2006-07, then the likes of DK, Dabri and Vijay (though he has proved his worth and would be too early to call his axe) have prospered under Srikanth.  DBV was openly critical of Sehwag in 2006-07 when the batsman went through the slump and thus lost the race of captaincy to Dhoni.

It would be very unfortunate to see Laxman and Dravid not play in the Eden Gardens – the same ground which saw them do greatest rear guard action of Indian cricket in 2001.  Its pretty unfortunate that Srikanth and his 4 other men are not ready to learn from the selection blunder they made for the first test and the result is out for everybody to see.

Indian scorecard reads a sorry look

So the selection fiasco paid rich dividends and the most inexperience Indian middle order in long time collapsed to Dale Steyn;s career best figure.

My foot in the mouth. Lol. I know with my style of writing I am bound to win more foes or critics with guns ever pointed to me like the rangers from the neibhouring country sitting at the border sharing with this huge republic / democracy.

So thats not going to deter me from writing my thoughts out, which may appear fucking comical to most who do not take a min to abuse me or call me different adjectives / expletives esp one blogger who presumes herself / himself to be thoughtful.

Anyways chuck that, let the critics have a hearty laughter at my expense, I am glad that I give them a chance to laugh in their otherwise half sad and incomplete life.

Back to the topic, the Sahas and the Badris failed to live upto the expectations the captain and the others would have had with them. I have not seen the scorecard but the comments in one of the previous posts suggest Badri would have scored decent (more than my prediction of 10s or 20s). So good for him. But then situation was tailor made for him to grind and cast a shadow over return of Yuvraj when fit. Unfortunately he did not and like Yuvraj's 3 hundreds which have come up when India were back on the wall (or their faces to wall)...

So I am not sure if he remains a challenge to the likes of Laxman and Yuvraj when they recover from their injuries.

This also proves that the Indian Test middle order still needs the Fab Three for long time than what we would have expected. We do not want to go the first innings way in the future when the debutants fail to live upto their expectations or find suddenly making their debuts when none expected them to.

If Badrinath bats longer for time and in process scores runs and justifies his outburst then its good for the team and most prolly him, but if he does not then he is the man to make the way for Laxman next game if fit. Yup Saha too, but then I am sure somebody else would replace him if RD is not yet fit again.

We need RD and VVS for some time more contrary to what critics and experts might say.

Cheeka must be seeing his blunder most prolly and hope he would rectify the same for the 2nd test when one of the pacer would go and  2 more specialist batsmen plus one buffer comes in. Perhaps he needs to learn some project management from iT managers who always have lots of buffers in their bench so that when a resource goes on leave, the buffers work and keep the show going on.

Most inexperienced Test side of decade (2000s) takes field

The least experienced Indian Test side has taken the field where the GOD is most experienced followed by Bhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag.

Awful selection of 6 batsmen makes a wicketkeeper in the side debut as a specialist batsman.

Actually Dhoni can field and Saha, the other Bengali since 1996 to make a Test debut (no since 2000) can keep.

So now there are 2 lame ducks in the middle order that makes the job of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dhoni and Tendulkar even more elephantine.

Dabri would not cross 10s or max 20s, Saha is unknown. So what beckons is scary. Why no Kohlis or Rainas ? Awful in atitude but they can bat.  Dabri will cry foul over chances not offered, but when given would flop. So he is not a long prospect. Majboori ka naam Subbu Dabrinath.

21 years hence Tendulkar remains like angad's immovable feet while lesser mortals around him go and come. Thats the beauty of this MUMBAIKAR.

BTW Zaks continued the top form of BD here as well and grabbing his bunny Graeme Smith once again.

Actually he has taken last 7 wkts to fall playing against India. Awesome. He has moved past Srinath's tally of 236 wkts and is now country's 2nd most successful pacer.   End of the series he should cross Chandra's 242 and then become 5th highest wicket taker for India.

Contrast this side to first BD test when the tests numbers read 28, 73, 137,161,108,35, X for first 7, now those stats read 30, 75,3,163, 0,0,42 for first 7.  No Dravid, no Laxman. Unusual. Weird and fucking ridiculous.

Wrong selection again

The return of Rohit Sharma in the team on the back of a triple century in Ranji game depicts how short sighted the  5 wise men of the Indian cricket are. There is a man who has churned out triple centuries like sixes from Viru Sehwag, yet he finds himself on the fringes of the selection.  Then there is a man who is the only Indian to score a hundred in IPL and has imposed himself well in the game, there is another man who has evolved in the ODIs off late.

Despite the stuff this 3 are ignored and Rohit Sharma from Thackerayland is in the team as a cover for VVS. The 3 men I talked above are:

1. C Pujara
2. M Pandey
3. V Kohli

Instead we have Dabri and Rohit Sharma in the team to play Tests. Whats the credibility of Sharma ahead of Kohli ? Kohli has hit 2 hundreds and 3/4 50s in crunch situations helping India win the games. Sharma on the other hand has done nothing of that sort off late.

So why is Sharmaji in and Kohli out ?

Its a dangerous proposition to go in a crucial Test series without Dravid and possibly Laxman and even more dangerous to go in with substitutes like Dabri and Sharma, proven failures in international cricket.  There are likes of Pujara who make runs yet do not get a chance, then there are dudes like Kohli who had attitude problems but when thrown in the middle of the fire come out with even golden streak. Now if this players do not get chance who else would ?

1-0 India

Time for predictions yet again.

And this time for India vs South Africa series. 

1-0 to India. 

South Africa are in a coach and board mess. India are in fitness worries.

The 2nd best batsman of the team is injured and the 3rd best  batsman is back in the team after 10 stiches.

Karthik is out but to balance the state equations other one is in. Dabri. He stands a real chance to replace Dravid / Yuvraj in XI....Bet he wont score more than 50 runs combined in the test or even less.

So one easy wicket for Saffers at least.

Mithun gets a look in and thats a reward for hard work and a spectacular debut. He has had an awesome first class debut and though Test debut seems unlikely, he should be good enough to put the likes of Ishant and Sreesanth on toes.

Wriddhiman Saha is other surprise selection and he should debut should Dhoni get unfit again (will he be unfit for IPL?). And a good riddance of DKNY, Dancing baby, DK, Chennai Duck. At least he was looked through.

Replacements for Dravid, Lacchu and Yuvraj ?

On 28th Jan when team for first Saffa test would be decided, the selectors would be in little trouble chosing the Test team and this would be  cos 3 of the 6 frontline batters are injured on this tour.

Dravid, Laxman and Yuvraj who form the backbone of the Test batting are out injured and do not know if they would recover in time for the first test.

Now the question arises who would come in for the 3.

Murali Vijay would be at 3.  What about other 2 ? Chance to  groom the replacements? Who ? Raina ?Sharma ?

Wont it be a chance to test the bench strength?  Interesting situation. Long time, perhaps first time in 14 years that India would be without Laxman, Dravid and of course retired Saurav.  Ok, that was in England 1996 when Dravid and Ganguly were yet to debut and then later on in the year Laxman debuted in Srinath's Ahmedabad test (6-21, first victory over SA)

This is Saffa's 4th tour of 2000s and 5th in all for Tests and the record doesnt look very good. 2 series losses, a win and a draw. That is, out of 10 tests won 4, lost 4 and draw 2/\.

We are yet to see Indian Test team without the 4 batting legends (Fab Four).  This would be an indication of times to dawn perhaps in couple of years when the big 3 would depart and then the replacements would be on.

Next few days would be indication to the future of Indian test cricket should the big 2 not recover from their injuries.

I hope they do.