India tour of South Africa

[asprin]

I agree Maharaj has done well, but the Indians will pick him any day for some respite

And that's exactly the thing SA would be hoping for. In an attempt to break free, few of them might end up losing their wickets. That's also part of the reason why I feel Maharaj would have a good outing against us.

 

[Markkkkk]

Maharaj has to and will play. To think otherwise is absurd

 

[Bigby Wolf]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...oubtful-for-1st-test/articleshow/62271882.cms
Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! Blessings in disguise. Thats the only way where Ravi Shastri will not play his ABD aka Shikhar Dhawan in the team.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...oubtful-for-1st-test/articleshow/62271882.cms
Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! Blessings in disguise. Thats the only way where Ravi Shastri will not play his ABD aka Shikhar Dhawan in the team.

I almost feel like ignoring you. Please don't ever do that again.

 

[SaiSrini]

Shikhar Dhawan being doubtful, actually feels like good news for India. If not fit, it will give Rahul a chance to play along with Vijay. Rahul should be first choice in tests anyways. Hope Virat does not give too much importance to Rohit's recent big scores and Rahane's recent failures on Indian conditions. Rahane has to and must absolutely play. I am seeing people on social media and in some websites say that Rohit should play ahead of Rahane. But that would be absolutely pathetic to do. Despite the big scores on flat Indian pitches, Rohit will be eaten up alive in South African pitches. And on the contrary, Rahane is a rare breed who fails on Indian pitches but somehow brings out his best game outside of India.

 

[AliB]

uhm..

 

[aditya123]

Unusually quiet on this thread for what is the most anticipated test series for me in a long long time. After the glut of SL and WI one-sided contests, we will finally get a stiff challenge in which we will start as the underdogs. SA are clear favorites in this series and I believe we would be reasonably happy to draw a couple of test matches. If the rumors going around on some of the online channels are true, Rahane and Umesh will sit out for Pandya and Ishant which means we will have proven overseas failures in Rohit and Ishant starting in yet another overseas tour! Apparently, Ishant now knows how to take wickets as per the Hindi media here. If these rumors are true, expect a royal drubbing for the Kohli, Shastri & Friends XI.

My side for would be:
Vijay
Rahul
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Saha
Hardik
Ashwin
Bhuvaneswar
Umesh
Shami

This is especially true if we have a dry wicket which is usually the case at Cape Town. Hardik will be more useful than Rohit who is a sitting duck against good pace bowling on non-Asian tracks. Bhuvi & Ashwin will be half as effective on conditions which are not green or dont offer spin. We need a couple of enforcers with the ball and that means Shami and Umesh have to both play even if it means risking going for a few runs as they can both reverse the ball in abrasive dry conditions. Ishant is a defensive option and has failed time and again overseas. He has been to 3 tours of Australia, 2 tours of SA and 2 tours of England and NZ. In none of these tours has he inspired any confidence. Sadly, knowing this team management, he will start at Cape Town.

 

[Aalay]

Finally some cricket to look forward to. In my opinion probably the most important tour for India as this will probably be the tour that defines how we are going to approach our overseas tours in the next 18 months. We have the same core team that visited South Africa last time so that is a big advantage. To start with opening, I feel Rahul deserves a go before Dhawan. I know the management group feels that Dhawan can make more impact but I feel Rahul is better equipped to handle quality bowling in bowling favourable conditions. Even though Rohit has been in amazing form and Rahane has struggled for a while, I will still back Rahane at number 5 to replicate the performances he showed last time when we toured overseas. I also think we will need Hardik as the 5th bowling option. Jadeja down with fever means Ashwin will start the series as he should have been anyways.

I agree with the lineup Aditya has posted above. I do feel for Umesh Yadav because he kind of faded away at the end of the home season but he bowled his heart out against England, Bangladesh and Australia. So I think he deserves a go before Ishant. Ishant looked a bit more promising against Sri Lanka and he is the most experience bowler but he is a defensive option.

One thing that always haunts us in the overseas tours is the amount of catches we put down in slip cordon. There is a high chance this might repeat again since we are going to start the series again by randomly picking our slip cordon. None of them are natural at slip catching so will be a big test at how perform in that department. If we want to put South Africa under pressure, we must take every single chances because they are unlikely drop catches.

 

[asprin]

If the rumors going around on some of the online channels are true, Rahane and Umesh will sit out for Pandya and Ishant which means we will have proven overseas failures in Rohit and Ishant starting in yet another overseas tour!

Ishant has to be the luckiest bowler in the world to be still getting a place in the playing XI. I would gamble with Rohit though only if it doesn't come at the expense of Rahane. I would also go in with Jadeja (if he recovers in time) instead of Ashwin.

 

[zwarrior]

One thing that always haunts us in the overseas tours is the amount of catches we put down in slip cordon. There is a high chance this might repeat again since we are going to start the series again by randomly picking our slip cordon. None of them are natural at slip catching so will be a big test at how perform in that department. If we want to put South Africa under pressure, we must take every single chances because they are unlikely drop catches.

This is the first thought which came to me today morning. I am sure we will drop some catches at the start of innings.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Totally psyched for this series ... after a long time

I hope we put up a fight, more than anything else.

Worrying sign. Cricinfo says ""Pujara first slip, Kohli second slip, Dhawan third slip, Rohit at gully. This is the practice," says Sid Monga."
I thought Rahane had made gully his position. Hopefully this doesnt mean we are getting Rohit in place of Rahane

 

[aditya123]

Totally psyched for this series ... after a long time

I hope we put up a fight, more than anything else.

Worrying sign. Cricinfo says ""Pujara first slip, Kohli second slip, Dhawan third slip, Rohit at gully. This is the practice," says Sid Monga."
I thought Rahane had made gully his position. Hopefully this doesnt mean we are getting Rohit in place of Rahane

Rohit ahead of Rahane apparently. Also Dhawan seems to be in. Bumrah to debut. Horrible.

 

[Yash.]

Bumrah to play!

 

[Yash.]

Dafuq was that lineup? Rohit , Dhawan and Bumrah in for Rahul, Rahane and Yadav?

 

[aditya123]

Dafuq was that lineup? Rohit , Dhawan and Bumrah in for Rahul, Rahane and Yadav?

This is why one should`nt play a series against SL before a big tour. It messes up with the selection. This is horrible selection. We keep picking the worst out of all possible combinations. We did that in the CT final. Pandya as a test match bowler or batsman? Especially with Rohit at No.5! We dropped Pujara for Sharma in the past and we know what happened then. We now drop our most accomplished test match batsman for the guy. Scoring hundreds on flat decks against hapless attacks at home is one thing and doing the same on the big stage in tests is completely different. If we are 20/3, don`t rule out an 80-odd all out here. SA don`t need anything more than 280 here to win this test.

Too much super-heroism by Shastri and Kohli here. Appalling. This is not how you become a great test side. Great test sides are built on consistency in selection and by backing your test match specialists. The side under Ganguly had someone like VVS who might not have set the world on fire against sides like SL at home. However, come the big games overseas, he fired, be it Durban, Perth, SCG, Adelaide and so on. Dada understood big match quality and backed him. That is what made the Indian side a force overseas back then. Even the case of Dravid during a lull in his career during the 2001 Australia series at home. Kohli himself was a huge failure in England last time as well as the home series against Australia and SA. Only because someone backed him that he came back to form. Rahane is a huge key if India are to perform well this year. You have to give confidence to test match quality batsmen like Rahane, Rahul, Vijay and Pujara. However, it is these guys and Yadav who keep losing their spot and are constantly under pressure. Bumrah, for instance, is not a conventional wicket-taker.