India's Tour of South Africa Dec 21 - Jan 22

[AliB]

By lunch tomorrow, SA 240/3.

You heard it here first...

 

[icyman]

Question is, notwithstanding Rahane in the second innings, should his long rope of boor batting form be extended

A more pressing concern is who is the permanent replacement of Rahane? Shreyas Iyer fits the bill, at the moment. However, what do you do when Rohit and Gill return. Who are your first choice openers? Who slots in at No. 3? Are they going to be experienced enough?

Easy to drop Rahane and Pujara. However, point to be noted is that these 2 occupy the prime positions in the Indian batting order and their replacements ought to be given a longer rope. You simply cannot play musical chairs with the next No3/5. Until then, NO!

Another point I wish to raise is over the continued inclusion of Rishab Pant. Does he deserve his place or are we simply riding on the Gabba high here? If not Pant, I believe Saha might play in Cape Town. Btw, is KS Bharat a part of the team here?

 

[harishankar]

Rahane is the 2nd highest run scorer for India behind KL Rahul (Rahul at 204; Rahane at 126). Rahane has had a 40+ and a 50+ score in these 2 test matches. You'd still drop him for an inexperienced Shreyas with the series on the line and Shreyas has to face the likes of Rabada, Ngidi and Jansen? Shreyas also has a short ball problem.

There's no reason why Rahane and Pujara need to continue being on the chopping block. Those two are experienced and with the series on the line, you use your experienced hands to finally win a series in SA for the first time! I agree with those here who said that we might have had a better chance had Rahane captained. But its unfortunate that his batting inconsistency led to the loss of vice captaincy. I wonder how and why KL Rahul got the vice captaincy.. I know its just one test that he has captained and its early to judge his credentials, but when the team had the likes of Ashwin, Pujara who are test regulars, suddenly thrusting KL Rahul into that spot and immediately him getting the captaincy when Kohli pulls out, doesn't make much of sense.

Well, the problem has been Rahane’s inability to convey those starts into big scores for quite an extended period of time. Every time we cannot expect the lower order to pull India out of trouble. We clearly needed bigger scores from Rahane and Pujara in this series. Barring the 1st innings at centurion when India put up 300+ mostly due to the opening stand, the Indian batting has struggled in large part due to middle order failure to stabilize the inning.

Indian lower order wags well in truer pitch conditions. In South Africa we’ve seen seam and indifferent bounce.

 

[icyman]

Well, the problem has been Rahane’s inability to convey those starts into big scores for quite an extended period of time.

Fascination with big scores has been the downfall of many in Indian cricket. Let me also remind you that Virat is sailing in the same boat as Rahane and Pujara.

 

[harishankar]

Fascination with big scores has been the downfall of many in Indian cricket. Let me also remind you that Virat is sailing in the same boat as Rahane and Pujara.

Sure. It is a collective middle order failure that has been bailed out by the lower order and also the bowlers. Cannot always work out. Clearly bigger scores are needed by the middle order sometimes.

 

[zimrahil]

@asprin oh dear….

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Ok my thoughts on this game.....

First of all I don't have any problem with the score of 202 after we were 7 down for 150-odd. Infact 202 was a fighting total. Issues with the way Olivier was used. As I said before use him sparingly or he would concede runs and exactly what happened. He picked up wickets but he was needed to be taken off after that. I would take a 3/37 any day over 3/64. KLR played yet another classic innings while Ashwin did just what was required.

On to South Africa's 1st innings, Indian bowlers once again started off brilliantly and they kept the pressure intact. What made the difference was Keegan Petersen's innings. A high class mature innings from the man (who just played his 4th match?). Not to take the focus off Elgar whose innings gave South Africa a lot of confidence. Lord Thakur with those 7 wickets was just an icing on the cake that was baked by Shami & Bumrah. I could feel for Siraj and appreciate his courage but I think he did more harm to himself and his team's chances. Bavuma was brilliant as well! To conclude things up I wonder what if Petersen and Elgar did not get lives to settle in? That made about a 30-40 run difference?

We were just down and out when we lost 2 quick wickets but Pujara/Rahane pair once again came to the rescue. A good comeback from Rabada! What a terrible display from Pant who got enraged by some soft comment. Could've reacted a little calmly. Lord Thakur with the bat once again help us a lot in dire circumstances. Vihari played brilliantly. Bumrah got going as usual as he has done in recent times. 240 was again a good score on that wicket. I know people felt this was a 350 wicket which was no where close to being true. Again I felt some 35-40 runs from Pant would've won India the game.

The 4th innings..... Well that cover drive from Markram showed how much the Proteas had changed as compared to the first innings. It is refreshing to see sides with this kind of an approach in these times. Elgar showed a miror image of former Captain Graeme Smith. Really impressed with him. Take a bow man!!!

I wonder why would you bowl Ashwin under gloomy conditions which was no where to be considered as spin friendly. India just used that short stuff way too much!!!

Also I don't understand the criticism towards KLR-The Captain. I mean he was Captaining his first ever First-Class game forget about being a Test match in South Africa. He did some blunders but that was supposed to be his very first game. To not let the Proteas run away with the game in the first innings itself was a good start for him.

I completely agree with @SaiSrini when he says that Rahane was needed to be given some space even when he has Captained the side beautifully.

Well played by the Proteas ...... Tough luck India!!!

Also special mentions to Dean Elgar!!!

 

[harishankar]

KLR‘s blunders could be excused due to lack of experience but his body language wasn’t great and looked like he felt lost at crucial moments.

To be honest India missed Virat the leader in this match. It could have been much tighter even if South Africa won.

Also Dean Elgar seemingly played and missed more times than all the Indian batsmen put together who found nicks even down the leg side. So luck also against India in this game.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

KLR‘s blunders could be excused due to lack of experience but his body language wasn’t great and looked like he felt lost at crucial moments.

To be honest India missed Virat the leader in this match. It could have been much tighter even if South Africa won.

Also Dean Elgar seemingly played and missed more times than all the Indian batsmen put together who found nicks even down the leg side. So luck also against India in this game.

I think so long as we bring criticisms toward Kohli the Captain, I also believe his presence on the field makes a lot of difference and I do think him being in this match could've made a lot of difference.

On to KLR, I feel body language is an issue if only it eats you up as an individual and doesn't let you be yourself. Plus you cannot learn if you are stubborn. And I think KLR isn't those guys who would try to put things under the carpet.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

India would've won with Kohli out there.

 

[asprin]

@asprin oh dear….

No shame in losing when you've given it your all, at least that's the feeling I got by reading the commentary. Kudos to SA batsmen for wearing our disciplined bowling down.

The problem area, as it has been for the last 2 seasons, is the batting. Our lower order, though still not satisfactory, is at least getting us some extra runs of late. It's the Pujara/Rahane/Kohli/Pant slots that are a cause of worry.

I agree with the notion that dropping Rahane and Pujara for the decider is probably not a good idea. We need them and we need them now.

Heard that Kohli is doubtful for the 3rd Test as well (at least BCCI is keeping me updated now @abhi_jacko ), so that's something that will play in SA's favour.

KLR will likely captain us again if that is the case. Don't think there will be change after just one Test. However, starting to wonder why Rahane or Ashwin wasn't considered for the role. Perhaps an indication that Rahane is on very thin ice and the same has been intimated to him. Very odd if you ask me.

It was a well fought match and for once I'm not that sad about the result. SA was in the zone from day 1 itself.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

No shame in losing when you've given it your all, at least that's the feeling I got by reading the commentary. Kudos to SA batsmen for wearing our disciplined bowling down.

The problem area, as it has been for the last 2 seasons, is the batting. Our lower order, though still not satisfactory, is at least getting us some extra runs of late. It's the Pujara/Rahane/Kohli/Pant slots that are a cause of worry.

I agree with the notion that dropping Rahane and Pujara for the decider is probably not a good idea. We need them and we need them now.

Heard that Kohli is doubtful for the 3rd Test as well (at least BCCI is keeping me updated now @abhi_jacko ), so that's something that will play in SA's favour.

KLR will likely captain us again if that is the case. Don't think there will be change after just one Test. However, starting to wonder why Rahane or Ashwin wasn't considered for the role. Perhaps an indication that Rahane is on very thin ice and the same has been intimated to him. Very odd if you ask me.

It was a well fought match and for once I'm not that sad about the result. SA was in the zone from day 1 itself.

 

[zimrahil]

No shame in losing when you've given it your all, at least that's the feeling I got by reading the commentary. Kudos to SA batsmen for wearing our disciplined bowling down.

The problem area, as it has been for the last 2 seasons, is the batting. Our lower order, though still not satisfactory, is at least getting us some extra runs of late. It's the Pujara/Rahane/Kohli/Pant slots that are a cause of worry.

I agree with the notion that dropping Rahane and Pujara for the decider is probably not a good idea. We need them and we need them now.

Heard that Kohli is doubtful for the 3rd Test as well (at least BCCI is keeping me updated now @abhi_jacko ), so that's something that will play in SA's favour.

KLR will likely captain us again if that is the case. Don't think there will be change after just one Test. However, starting to wonder why Rahane or Ashwin wasn't considered for the role. Perhaps an indication that Rahane is on very thin ice and the same has been intimated to him. Very odd if you ask me.

It was a well fought match and for once I'm not that sad about the result. SA was in the zone from day 1 itself.

Great post, at least you are playing in a competitive series

 

[icyman]

Also I don't understand the criticism towards KLR-The Captain. I mean he was Captaining his first ever First-Class game forget about being a Test match in South Africa. He did some blunders but that was supposed to be his very first game. To not let the Proteas run away with the game in the first innings itself was a good start for him.

Man, you answered it yourself. You cannot captain your first ever first class game in a Test match. Well, its happened in the past, with a few. But to thrust it into KLR's hand is sheer madness. I thought with Dravid as the head coach, there would be a logical progression of players from India A to the main side. Expected the transition to occur in terms of captaincy too.

In KLR's case, he has neven been the captain of his state side, let alone India A/B. The move to groom a player does make sense, but to give him captaincy directly in Tests is a bit weird.

Remember the Asia Cup tie vs Afghanistan wherein MS Dhoni was asked to captain? Or the India V Australia game in CB series 2012 when Ponting cmae back to captain? In the absence of the regular vice-captain, teams have turned to former captains/deputies to lead. Really surprising that we went in with a clueless person at the helm.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Remember the Asia Cup tie vs Afghanistan wherein MS Dhoni was asked to captain? Or the India V Australia game in CB series 2012 when Ponting cmae back to captain? In the absence of the regular vice-captain, teams have turned to former captains/deputies to lead. Really surprising that we went in with a clueless person at the helm.

Why did we not do this is because as I mentioned.....

I completely agree with @SaiSrini when he says that Rahane was needed to be given some space even when he has Captained the side beautifully.

He isn't scoring runs and to burden him with the Captaincy that too in South Africa (our worst place to play after NZ) is something that can hamper his performance.

Also we did not expect this situation to occur where our new vice Captain got injured and our Captain did not play at all. Now why they chose KLR isn't something I can answer, but why aren't we questioning the team management and blaming KLR is the question in place.