Schedule*
13th September: 1st four day match at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
19th September: 2nd four day match at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala
26th September: 1st one day match at Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
28th September: 2nd one day match at Maharaja Pratapsingh Coronation Gymkhana Ground, Baroda
30th September: 3rd one day match at Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot
*All games against India A
Squads
India A's batting line up is very strong and I fully expect them to put up a fight against what will be a strong South African A side. Badrinath and Parthiv Patel will look to build on their three centuries and a fifty which they both got in the four day games against Zimbabwe and Kenya. Aakash Chopra will no doubt be looking to once and for all secure the disputed opening spot and Kaif, Pujara, Tiwary and Raina will be looking to try and oust the big four in the period of two four day games and three one day matches...good luck.
I really rate Aakash Chopra, his technique is beautiful to watch and each run with him is earned. He also seems to bear the brunt of the opening bowlers and although he does not score at a heavy rate, he seems to often survive till the first bowling change. These days opening attacks include Akhtar/Asif, Anderson/Sidebottom, Clark/Lee and so are starting to become quite formidable again. It will be interesting to see if he plays in the one dayers as he is quite a defensive test batsman.
He has a poor Test record, this is likely due to the fact that his four series have been: two against Australia, one against New Zealand (the one he did well in) and one against Pakistan, hardly easy, he has matured a lot since then though, averaging 80 for his Middlesex based club and 50 for his Indian FC side. Someone with such an impecable technque should be able to convert a FC average (which is 44 btw) well into international cricket...but time will tell.
The bowling is less impressive but still quite strong. Ishant Sharma, still growing and hopefully having corrected the awful spinal twist in his bowling action may hope to be the tall fast bowler than India have wanted for so long. Touching 140kph in Bangladesh it would seem that just an extra yard or two of pace would make him the fastest in India and with fine control over line and length, he will be looking to earn a place in the Indian seam attack, all places are up for grabs as I believe that only Zaheer Khan is an assured seamer in the team. Pankaj Singh was the strike bowler with Pathan in the tri series and constantly outperformed him, him and the young Yo Mahesh will also be looking to break into the team too. Ojha was impressive in the Tri Series and good in the four day games against Zimbabwe and Kenya but he will have to be extraordinary as it seems that both Harbhajan (on the back of fantastic showings for Surrey) and Chawla would be ahead of the pecking order than him. The mysterious but proven at domestic level, Ashraf Makda is my pick to make a storm against his former countrymen and Amit Mishra will look to build on comparisons with Shane Warne by destroying South Africa, just as Warne enjoyed doing time and time again.
13th September: 1st four day match at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
19th September: 2nd four day match at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala
26th September: 1st one day match at Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
28th September: 2nd one day match at Maharaja Pratapsingh Coronation Gymkhana Ground, Baroda
30th September: 3rd one day match at Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot
*All games against India A
Squads
India A's batting line up is very strong and I fully expect them to put up a fight against what will be a strong South African A side. Badrinath and Parthiv Patel will look to build on their three centuries and a fifty which they both got in the four day games against Zimbabwe and Kenya. Aakash Chopra will no doubt be looking to once and for all secure the disputed opening spot and Kaif, Pujara, Tiwary and Raina will be looking to try and oust the big four in the period of two four day games and three one day matches...good luck.
I really rate Aakash Chopra, his technique is beautiful to watch and each run with him is earned. He also seems to bear the brunt of the opening bowlers and although he does not score at a heavy rate, he seems to often survive till the first bowling change. These days opening attacks include Akhtar/Asif, Anderson/Sidebottom, Clark/Lee and so are starting to become quite formidable again. It will be interesting to see if he plays in the one dayers as he is quite a defensive test batsman.
He has a poor Test record, this is likely due to the fact that his four series have been: two against Australia, one against New Zealand (the one he did well in) and one against Pakistan, hardly easy, he has matured a lot since then though, averaging 80 for his Middlesex based club and 50 for his Indian FC side. Someone with such an impecable technque should be able to convert a FC average (which is 44 btw) well into international cricket...but time will tell.
The bowling is less impressive but still quite strong. Ishant Sharma, still growing and hopefully having corrected the awful spinal twist in his bowling action may hope to be the tall fast bowler than India have wanted for so long. Touching 140kph in Bangladesh it would seem that just an extra yard or two of pace would make him the fastest in India and with fine control over line and length, he will be looking to earn a place in the Indian seam attack, all places are up for grabs as I believe that only Zaheer Khan is an assured seamer in the team. Pankaj Singh was the strike bowler with Pathan in the tri series and constantly outperformed him, him and the young Yo Mahesh will also be looking to break into the team too. Ojha was impressive in the Tri Series and good in the four day games against Zimbabwe and Kenya but he will have to be extraordinary as it seems that both Harbhajan (on the back of fantastic showings for Surrey) and Chawla would be ahead of the pecking order than him. The mysterious but proven at domestic level, Ashraf Makda is my pick to make a storm against his former countrymen and Amit Mishra will look to build on comparisons with Shane Warne by destroying South Africa, just as Warne enjoyed doing time and time again.
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