India vs South Africa | 3rd Test | Johannesburg | Jan 24-28, 2018 | Day 2 | Discussion Thread

[Bilal7]

V Philander has shown that he is a better cricketer than Faf du Plessis and Morne Morkel now across formats and is heading to the level of Smith, Amla and de Villiers.

We were taking about Stokes, Ali, Shakib, etc but Philander is right up there as one of the best all-rounders in the world. That is in addition to being a very good bowler.

Not a great because he gets nullified on flatter tracks, although he's definitely not useless on them like a Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

 

[Ab Fan]

What fun? Please provide a context of the discussion so that I can provide my insight.

Amla better than Gavaskar and Dravid??

 

[Oligochaetes]

I enter and Philander goes.... sheeeeesh.

Anyways, just trail by 12 runs.

 

[big_gamer007]

Game oon .. we need to set 225+ target to Ben in drivers seat, anything less than that SA will always be in the game and we can’t go all our aggressive

 

[Bilal7]

Faf should declare in another four-five overs. India batting under clouds with the new ball may potentially decide this test.

 

[Protea Fan]

Tail-enders bat with zero pressure on such pitches and one or two of them score some runs. Same reason why some part-timers pick wickets on roads while the specialist bowlers struggle.

Its tough to score here with all the swing,seam and awkward bounce.But is it unplayable?i don't think so.May be upcoming days will be too hard to survive and then we can say that

Everything you need to score here is dig deep on the crease and work hard for each runs thats how amla and pujara scored and they deserves the credit

 

[Oligochaetes]

Faf should declare in another four-five overs. India batting under clouds with the new ball may potentially decide this test.

I dont think clouds matter. There is no way India is scoring much with that daunting bowling attack

 

[shariqnoor]

Mohammad Asif at his peak would've destroyed any batting lineup on this track. Pace, bounce, seam, swing everything his heart desired. It's such a shame that he destroyed his own career instead.

 

[soso_killer]

Amla scored a crucial 82 in the last game, only getting out because of a run-out and a ball that kept very low. Amla > Dravid, VVS, Sehwag and any other "fab" batsmen India have produced barring Sachin and Gavasker (better than Gavasker too when ODIs are considered).

Why would you mention that innings? It doesn't suit the narrative.
Amla also scored a double ton in the second match of a 4 Tests series in Cape Town against England which was supposedly a "dead rubber". Only on PP mate

 

[Oligochaetes]

Morkel hammering Bumrah .... Lol

 

[Mamoon]

Amla better than Gavaskar and Dravid??

He is not better than both. I don’t think he is an ATG, just a very good Test batsman and a severe bottler in Limited Overs. In addition, a terrible captain.

They are only two active batsman, i.e. currently playing who are certified ATGs if they retire today - Kohli, de Villiers.

They have the legacy, impact and influence etc. No one ticks all boxes and neither do they, but if they retire today, they will be remembered 50 years from now and people will talk about their achievements.

All young batsman growing up today look to those two as their role-models.

Amla is someone who will be forgotten quickly after his retirement, and only South African fans and his fans for non-cricketing reasons will revere him. He hasn’t had the same impact as players like Kohli, de Villiers etc.

Williamson won’t get there, Smith will eventually and Root maybe if he improves his temperament. Nonetheless, I think all members of the Fab Four are better overall cricketers than Amla.

 

[Bilal7]

Gotta love when tail-enders play like this. 200 still on for the South Africans.

 

[Syed1]

Mohammad Asif at his peak would've destroyed any batting lineup on this track. Pace, bounce, seam, swing everything his heart desired. It's such a shame that he destroyed his own career instead.

If Asif had continued playing without any external circumstances, he would definitely be nearing ATG status by now.

 

[Bilal7]

I dont think clouds matter. There is no way India is scoring much with that daunting bowling attack

Clouds make a difficult situation into an even more difficult one.

Its tough to score here with all the swing,seam and awkward bounce.But is it unplayable?i don't think so.May be upcoming days will be too hard to survive and then we can say that

Everything you need to score here is dig deep on the crease and work hard for each runs thats how amla and pujara scored and they deserves the credit

Of course, it's not unplayable. Amla just showed that. You do have to be very, very good to be successful here, however.

 

[Bilal7]

Why would you mention that innings? It doesn't suit the narrative.
Amla also scored a double ton in the second match of a 4 Tests series in Cape Town against England which was supposedly a "dead rubber". Only on PP mate

You only get these sort of comments from a certain type of poster. Most other people here and much better than that.

 

[RamLakhan]

Indian openers will be under immense pressure for sure! Won't be a bad idea if one of them is put down the order and somebody like Bhuvi opening the innings (nothing to lose, all 5 innings so far have been lottery with our openers, only once did Vijay got some runs. Won't be a bad idea to ask Rahul to bat at No.6)

 

[Ab Fan]

He is not better than both. I don’t think he is an ATG, just a very good Test batsman and a severe bottler in Limited Overs. In addition, a terrible captain.

They are only two active batsman, i.e. currently playing who are certified ATGs if they retire today - Kohli, de Villiers.

They have the legacy, impact and influence etc. No one ticks all boxes and neither do they, but if they retire today, they will be remembered 50 years from now and people will talk about their achievements.

All young batsman growing up today look to those two as their role-models.

Amla is someone who will be forgotten quickly after his retirement, and only South African fans and his fans for non-cricketing reasons will revere him. He hasn’t had the same impact as players like Kohli, de Villiers etc.

Williamson won’t get there, Smith will eventually and Root maybe if he improves his temperament. Nonetheless, I think all members of the Fab Four are better overall cricketers than Amla.

And then poeple come and say "Amla has scored more tough runs than Tendulkar and Dravid combined". And what more "Tendulkar is a soft cricketer". Someone who carried the team for 24 years and continued performing extremely well for that long after recovering from the career threatening tennis elbow is a soft cricketer.

 

[Syed1]

Indian openers will be under immense pressure for sure! Won't be a bad idea if one of them is put down the order and somebody like Bhuvi opening the innings (nothing to lose, all 5 innings so far have been lottery with our openers, only once did Vijay got some runs. Won't be a bad idea to ask Rahul to bat at No.6)

Not a bad strategy.... plus BK has shown more ability than alot of the top order bats.

 

[Oligochaetes]

I love watching the last few wickets bat without fear

 

[Syed1]

If the tail carry SA to 220, then it's SA's game to lose.

 

[soso_killer]

Its tough to score here with all the swing,seam and awkward bounce.But is it unplayable?i don't think so.May be upcoming days will be too hard to survive and then we can say that

Everything you need to score here is dig deep on the crease and work hard for each runs thats how amla and pujara scored and they deserves the credit

This is a tough wicket, but definitely not unplayable. The likes of Amla showed how to bat here. Batsmen have to adapt. Playing as if it's a normal Tuesday special is quite annoying. I'm very disappointed with AB after he was so well protected by Rabada. Smith would have taken the game away from us in that situation.
It's what will cost us against Australia.

He has played well in this series yes, but no one can say he definitely put us in a winning position. He left it for others. Smith will finish the job, when he leaves the wicket Australia will be definitely be in a winning position. Not half way there. When a player is in form he has to cash in. Can't leave the job to be completed by others.

 

[Oligochaetes]

5 wickets for Bumrah!

I didnt expect this.... I thought Bhuvan would it it.... Nooooooooooooooo

 

[DuckMaster]

India -7 for 3

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Still it convinced that bumrah is a test class bowler.

 

[jagatk]

Now it is upto our batsmen, anything above 175 and it is ours to lose.

 

[DRsohail]

Now it is upto our batsmen, anything above 175 and it is ours to lose.

!50 will be close.

 

[Ab Fan]

If India scores a 200 here, they should win this IMO. Philander(in particular) and Rabada will be key. Even 180 might do it.

 

[soso_killer]

Criminal getting to a leg stump full toss. AB should take a look at himself. We no longer have Kallis to clean up after him. It's a pity the only player with a solid technique bar Amla in our top order is an opening bat. Makram would have done better after Rabada's stellar knock.
Faf is decent but tentive even after 60 odd balls. Makram on the other end picks up the tempo.

SA has to field better than they did in the first innings and they'll be fine.

 

[DRsohail]

inida should hang around and get 160 so the target will be more than 150 and i see SA chocking in 2nd innings.

 

[jagatk]

If India scores a 200 here, they should win this IMO. Philander(in particular) and Rabada will be key. Even 180 might do it.

No one is getting near 200 on this pitch.

 

[King Kong]

If India sets a target of around 180 and win the test, Kohli will be hailed as a legendary captain for opting to bat first on a green mamba.

 

[jagatk]

What was the logic in picking pandya if he was going to bowl 2 overs should have picked rohit, at least we would have gotten the satisfaction of seeing his test career end for good.

 

[Red Devil]

Criminal getting to a leg stump full toss. AB should take a look at himself. We no longer have Kallis to clean up after him. It's a pity the only player with a solid technique bar Amla in our top order is an opening bat. Makram would have done better after Rabada's stellar knock.
Faf is decent but tentive even after 60 odd balls. Makram on the other end picks up the tempo.

SA has to field better than they did in the first innings and they'll be fine.

AB got out to a leg stump full toss?

 

[Ab Fan]

No one is getting near 200 on this pitch.

200 is a bit too much maybe but when you have a chase of 150 one good inning can run the game away. There is higher pressure on bowlers to defend 150 because total isn't big.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

What was the logic in picking pandya if he was going to bowl 2 overs should have picked rohit, at least we would have gotten the satisfaction of seeing his test career end for good.

He is the Hafeez of your test team (NOT TALKING ABOUT ODIs). He will never leave your test team.

You heard it here first!

 

[jagatk]

Not a bad strategy.... plus BK has shown more ability than alot of the top order bats.

We need to keep our best batsmen away from the new ball let the chicken fodder rubbish we have face that and hopefully Kohli ChePu and bhuvi can capitalize

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

SA will get around 15 hours.

IMO 135 is a winning total here.

 

[jagatk]

Smart call to send the Indian version of hobbit to open, if he hacks his way to 20-30 great if he doesn't not much of a loss anyway.

 

[Buffet]

3rd good game in a row. Far better than watching one sided games in Ashes.

 

[ethan hunt]

Southafrican batting lineup is pretty weak . Australia will destroy this batting lineup .
No wonder they lost badly to England.

 

[DHONI_FAN]

Need 250 minimum to be safe

 

[jagatk]

Need 250 minimum to be safe

We will need a team of 11 don Bradmans to get that on this pitch against this bowling lineup

 

[Ab Fan]

Good job to send Parthiv first. If he takes the score to 30 odd and then get out even by hacking it out, the pressure is a little off.

 

[DHONI_FAN]

We will need a team of 11 don Bradmans to get that on this pitch against this bowling lineup

11 Don Bradmans plus lot of luck.. Lol

 

[Ab Fan]

Interesting observation there by someone;

AMLA(61)- KOHLI(54) =7 run lead.

 

[Syed1]

If India are 50/2, they have won the match.

 

[Ab Fan]

Will have to accept Kohli made the right decision on toss- bat first!

 

[DHONI_FAN]

This pitch should be deemed dangerous.

 

[big_gamer007]

WOW Patel looking clueless as ever..Big surprise

 

[Savage]

Crucial session for India.Our top order has been blown away on 3rd session of the day in previous two tests.India would be very happy if they can manage to lose not more than 2 wickets in last session and hopefully Pujara and Kohli are still not out.

IMO Any other batsmen/Tailender should be sent ahead of Kohli if we lose two early wickets.

 

[JattMaula]

What a Match!!!!!

Every ball is an event.

 

[jagatk]

If India are 50/2, they have won the match.

You underestimate our ability to go from 50-2 to 50-7.

 

[DHONI_FAN]

Lord Murali miissing out on leg stump half volleys

 

[navin]

3rd good game in a row. Far better than watching one sided games in Ashes.

very much agreed, No matter what the result would be but it has been a far competitive series.

 

[DHONI_FAN]

Hurray.. We have a lead

 

[Kashmirilion]

Hurray.. We have a lead

Proteas are bowling very poor ATM, looks like India's game this

 

[RamLakhan]

Hurray.. We have a lead

Parthiv Patel single handedly did that!

 

[jagatk]

Proteas are bowling very poor ATM, looks like India's game this

You guys really need to buck up with the jinx attempts they are as bad as Rohit's batting.

 

[mkyawar]

poor start from rabada and philander

 

[Amjid Javed]

3rd test in a row in this series, game is 50/50 balance after 1 inns.. can india hang on to S.A this time though.

 

[Savage]

If India sets a target of around 180 and win the test, Kohli will be hailed as a legendary captain for opting to bat first on a green mamba.

TBH It wasn't a bad decision(Regardless of whether india wins or lose).I think both captain wouldn't have minded losing toss in this test.

 

[Savage]

Hurray.. We have a lead

At least we won't lose by an innings in this series

 

[RamLakhan]

At last one of the sanest decision made by Kohli on this tour (Shielding Rahul) Will this decision work in India's favor/luck? Rahul has to reciprocate that by contributing...

 

[Syed1]

India always treat Patel like qurbani ka baqra... and he always repays their faith in him. Good job even though he is gone now.

 

[RamLakhan]

This series is like expecting wickets every ball than runs! Would probably be one of the rarest series where we will see all 60 wickets being taken (6 innings)

 

[troodon]

Patel bhai a bit unlucky. Batted with guts rather than play like a coward.

 

[DHONI_FAN]

Poor running

 

[Kashmirilion]

You guys really need to buck up with the jinx attempts they are as bad as Rohit's batting.

Lol dont beleive in jinx. I really do beleive you have a very good chance to win this and I would say you are ahead at this point anything over 150 proteas will struggle chasing, India's game to lose.

 

[troodon]

India always treat Patel like qurbani ka baqra... and he always repays their faith in him. Good job even though he is gone now.

Patel is a very aggressive batsman. Its unfortunate that his career coincided with MSD.

 

[troodon]

If India can put up 175, they have a very good chance of winning this.

 

[JattMaula]

What a catch!

 

[RamLakhan]

KL Rahul is probably playing for his career/life here! If he fails he may have to make a come back after a strong domestic season (very unlikely because someone like Mayank Agarwal from the same state did tremendously well last season and not got selected!)

 

[RamLakhan]

Patel is a very aggressive batsman. Its unfortunate that his career coincided with MSD.

Yes by this time he would have got settled...

 

[RamLakhan]

Not went into the shell (good RR) actually a good hand by Parthiv....

 

[troodon]

This pitch is still offering tons of swing and seam movement.

Batsmen need a lot of luck to score runs. Any point of time, a jaffa can take even the set batsman out.

 

[jagatk]

I don't know whether to be happy or sad about Patel's innings on one hand he did better than he would have at his regular position but seriously we are happy that he scored a 16, how low are our standards.

 

[Oligochaetes]

I don't know whether to be happy or sad about Patel's innings on one hand he did better than he would have at his regular position but seriously we are happy that he scored a 16, how low are our standards.

Be sad.

 

[JattMaula]

KL Rahul is probably playing for his career/life here! If he fails he may have to make a come back after a strong domestic season (very unlikely because someone like Mayank Agarwal from the same state did tremendously well last season and not got selected!)

Mayank is not test material. KL's stock is down atm but he is far far better batsman.

 

[Madplayer]

India are firm favourites in this match. Bowlers have done everything they can.

Can this over rated useless batting line up help out the bowlers FOR ONCE in this series?

 

[troodon]

I don't know whether to be happy or sad about Patel's innings on one hand he did better than he would have at his regular position but seriously we are happy that he scored a 16, how low are our standards.

Considering what our regular openers have been doing this series, 16 is gold dust.

Also, you can see that Patel is not scared to play his shots. His attitude is perfect when playing in tough conditions.

Pathiv Patel should be a regular in T20 team. MSD is a poor T20 player. He needs to be replaced by Patel.