South Africa in India

[sid_19840]

India and South Africa share the series 2-2. India win the fifth ODI by 5 wickets to level the series! Rahul Dravid is declared the Man of the match of the last ODI and the Man of the series is shared by Graeme Smith and YUVRAJ SINGH (YEYYYYYYY.......).

It was a fantastic win for India today at Mumbai! as m_vaughan (Siddarth) predicted, South Africa win in Kolkatta and India win and level in Mumbai!

Remember, It was a hard earned win for India no doubt because the dew wasnt that heavy and it was also acknowledged by Dravid! The South Africans kept it very tight and made India sweat! Also the wicket wasnt a spinners paradise for the Indians to strangulate the South Africans. The wicket had something for the seamers and even in the 94th over of the match, the South African bowlers were getting good almost chest height bounce! So this victory is doubly sweet for us. We havent lost a series yet and we have played some superb cricket for the past 11 matches (Chennai rained off irritatingly!).

FIND OF THE SERIES & The Player into the Superstar league: Yuvraj Singh

The most impressive player: Graeme Smith & Harbhajan Singh

The most exciting team: Again, a tough call. But I go for India just slightly because they have been the most entertaining always!

P.s: Who all watched Yuvraj being showered with drinks by his team mates when Shastri announced that he was the joint Man of the Series? A revival of the yesteryears when the team used to celebrate ecstatically like this and show their unity despite difference in opinions! The unity of the team was heart warming to see! All I hope is that a certain player (well the world knows who he is?!) does not act as a disruptive and disturbing influence in this otherwise bubbling and vibrant team!

NEXT ODI SERIES (for India): India vs Pakistan (in Pakistan!)

Warning to Pakistan: Here we come!

That's a pretty good read as well,well done.

 

[sohum]

Yeah, that's me.

 

[vibs89]

Somehow, I didnt like Nel. He puts up funny faces for almost every ball that he bowls! He is over aggressive! I feel he reacts to the cameras that zoom in often on him to get some interesting things going!

Today he bowled well but overall, he needs to be more mature and calm.

Yeah Me too. I din't like his attitude and his funny faces and all.

 

[sohum]

Don't worry. I think his action is going to put too much stress on his body.

 

[SaiSrini]

Don't worry. I think his action is going to put too much stress on his body.

Yeah, Arun Lal jokingly said "Instead of getting injured due to playing, this guy might get injured because of the way he celebrates"

 

[bharat]

Nel looked like a WWE wrestler.
He was shouting crap & stared at dravid..next ball dravid hit him for 4.


Is he trying to prove cricket is not a gentleman's game?

 

[langerrox]

That's a pretty good read as well,well done.

Not biased at all :

 

[m_vaughan]

Well thats Andre Nel for you. He has been doing this for a long time now I've become used to his rather over-excited behaviour, and personally I think its good for cricket. Otherwise it gets a bit boring at times.

Despite dropping 2 points in the rankings I think 2-2 was a better result for SA, and they are overall the better of the two teams. India have improved though, surely.

 

[sohum]

I would like to disagree... if the fourth game had been played anywhere other than Kolkata, I think the Indians would have managed to beat the Proteas. There was just so much psychological involvement in the Eden Gardens match that it wasn't really a fair struggle.

 

[m_vaughan]

I would like to disagree... if the fourth game had been played anywhere other than Kolkata, I think the Indians would have managed to beat the Proteas. There was just so much psychological involvement in the Eden Gardens match that it wasn't really a fair struggle.

I totally disagree with that mate. SA won it fair and square.

 

[SaiSrini]

I totally disagree with that mate. SA won it fair and square.

Yeah, but the hostile conditions and the pitch played a big part. And since its a part of India, one can be justified in saying that it was a bit unfair!

Well thats Andre Nel for you. He has been doing this for a long time now I've become used to his rather over-excited behaviour, and personally I think its good for cricket. Otherwise it gets a bit boring at times.

Despite dropping 2 points in the rankings I think 2-2 was a better result for SA, and they are overall the better of the two teams. India have improved though, surely.

Anyways, India have played as much good of a cricket as South Africa have! What South Africa look better in is their overall discpline. They are very very discplined and are amazingly consistent! It looked as if India had to take risks every time to score runs! But I was very impressed to see India's fielding too. Normally, Indian fielding is fantastic in small bursts and they revert back to their poor fielding. But so far in the 11 games played, their fielding has been amazingly consistent too (though still not equal to the South Africans!).

Harbhajan Singh has developed into a fantabulous fielder. The over in which Boucher got out, WOW!!!! The first ball, Boucher hit it to deep mid on and it was looking like a certain four, Bhajji flung himself and stopped it to two. Fourth ball, Boucher hit the ball in the air and Bhajji plucked the catch a few inches off the ground!!!

********************
Check this article out... One of the most irritating ones that I've read in recent times coming from "Indiatimes".

Stop gloating captain Dravid

Looks like it was an obvious attempt by a section to ridicule the team's spirit, the team's celebrations, etc. No prizes for guessing which part of India the writer comes from!

 

[aussie1st]

It was a shame to see all these pitches that basically said win the toss bowl first and win the game.
SA may have been the better side, but we will never know if this is true cause the series was tied 2-2. All games decided by the toss. It would have been good to see a series where the toss played as little part as possible. That way the skills of both sides would come out.
Who knows we may have had another 2-2 because both sides are so closely matched maybe it could have gone 4-0 to SA or vice versa.

In saying that there isn't much India could do about the pitches given its winter in parts of India. Blame the ICC for scheduling it around this time frame.

 

[Mahesh Babu]

Dravid is a very bad captain.Sehwag should be the captain

 

[prarara]

Each game was a comprehensive win for the side winning the toss and batting second! The series result though was the tightest that it can get!

...and that's exactly what I had said. Anyhoo, I hope India wins the next series!

Dravid is a very bad captain.Sehwag should be the captain

??? No way. I think Dravid is an excellent leader; his experience has, and will carry the team through many circumstances.

Check this article out... One of the most irritating ones that I've read in recent times coming from "Indiatimes".

Stop gloating captain Dravid

Looks like it was an obvious attempt by a section to ridicule the team's spirit, the team's celebrations, etc. No prizes for guessing which part of India the writer comes from!

Being half Bengali I feel that this article definately has political motivations fueling it. I think Dravid and Chappel have done some excellent work on implementing the youth policy and the wing against SA was well deserved.

The slide show is quite the hyperbole-it relates Dravid to Stalin...I really feel that the author is unfairly debasing Dravid.

 

[Dhoni]

BALA BALA. INDIA!!!!!!!! 2-2. Great series!!!