SA tour of India, Sept 29-Dec 7

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We won. Superb effort by our team

[Red Devil]

We won. Superb effort by our team

need to make sure we don't let them back in now though, got to keep the pressure on

[shankycricket]

This was a very good, subcontinental Test pitch. The quality of batting on the other hand was deplorable to say the least. The scary part is that these 2 (alongwith maybe Pakistan) are the best spin playing teams in the world right now. I shudder to think how badly other teams would've batted.

[meninblue]

We won. Superb effort by our team

need to make sure we don't let them back in now though, got to keep the pressure on

With 3 spinners two of whom are in form it will be very difficult for Saffers to fight back. Like every team doctors the pitches according to their bowling strength, we can expect another wicket favoring spinners more and early in test match. Morevoer we are playing 3 specialist spinners, so there is no doubt how the wickets would behave in most if the innings. England last year had two quality bowlers in Swann and Monty to exploit our wickets, however Saffers have a weak spin attack when compared to ours or to Monty and Swann combo. They are just not playing enough spinners and it will be a big advantage to us in this series imo on such wickets.

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It's rained a lot in Bangalore in last 3 days. Rain is predicted for next few days as well. Few sessions are expected to be lost in this test.

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Gurkeerat has been added to the squad. He did well in Ranji trophy and is rewarded for his batting performance. Scored a double recently versus Railways. Also a handy bowler. Took 9 wickets in the last Ranji match he played. His fielding is sensational. Remember the one handed flying catch he took at DBSL in IPL. However, he will have to wait to make the playing 11.

[Dr Cricket]

Surprised how quiet this thread his.
No one can complain about the pitch SA have just been poor.

[mikesiva]

SA 214 all out...AB the only batsman to offer any resistance with 84. Four wickets each for Ashwin and Jadeja....

It seems the Saffers are up against it again.

I know Philander is injured...is Steyn hurt too?

[The Professor]

India were so strong in the field today. Hard to decide what the ratio is between how crap SA were with the bat and how good India were.

[Dr Cricket]

Biggest difference as been Ashwin he still hasn't lost his good form yet.
India having a quality attack for the conditions has made it very difficult for SA to score runs even in good batting conditions.

Got to say SA have also been beaten mentally.

you can argue too much preparation has been their downfall.

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Virat has reverted to 7+4 combo for this test. Terrific bowling performance by the spinners yet again. The batsmen too have given a good start and we can hope to get a substantial first innings lead at Day 2 stumps time.

[Dr Cricket]

Virat has reverted to 7+4 combo for this test. Terrific bowling performance by the spinners yet again. The batsmen too have given a good start and we can hope to get a substantial first innings lead at Day 2 stumps time.

It is actually 6.5+4.5
Binny only picked because he can bowl seam up and still bat.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Binny is down to bat at eight. Looks like 6+5.

[meninblue]

Virat has reverted to 7+4 combo for this test. Terrific bowling performance by the spinners yet again. The batsmen too have given a good start and we can hope to get a substantial first innings lead at Day 2 stumps time.

It is actually 6.5+4.5
Binny only picked because he can bowl seam up and still bat.

Maybe he was picked because it was raining for few days continuously in Bangalore. However the problem is that pacers are hardly going to bowl and Mishra or any specialist spinner can give 25+ overs of spin in a day if required whereas Binny would bowl very less in India. Three pacers are luxury especially when South Africa showed that they have not yet adapted to bat in our conditions against our specialist spinners. Three South African batting innings have been totally dominated by our specialist spinners. Mishra should come back in squad because apart from the bowling skills he also has a home ground match at Delhi. Him and Virat Shikhar Ishant will bring the advantage of homeground. The South African bowling has been relatively neutralised considering Steyn is injured and they are playing just one specialist spinner. So is there a requirement to actually replace a specialist spinner in these conditions with a multi skilled player.

[meninblue]

Match not yet started due to rain delay.