India's blatant disregard for preparation and proper team selection on overseas tours

[Proactive_]

So, India ended the Test with a pretty sizable 72 run loss.. brought about largely by two below par performances with the bat. It's not that much the performances but the factors that lead up to those performances that are worrying.

On your first overseas tour of any substance in more than two years, you go in with ZERO practice matches facing the likes of Steyn, Philander, Morkel and Rabada, arguably the best fast bowling line up assembled in the 21st century. I just can't understand how Kohli and Co can be so arrogant, so impractical and so blatantly disrespectful to the team that they're visiting that they consider their No.1 tag enough pedigree to roll over any team. Kohli rued about the lack of practice before the tour but why wasn't he proactive enough when BCCI announced the itinerary for the SL return series? A series that was so out of place that it not only messed up India's preparation before the series, it put the players through extra workload for a full series. Kohli knew what it meant, he sure did.


Alright, that's something that happened before the series. Fine. But what's up with the selection of Rohit Sharma? Because his selection in the Test team is reaching mythical proportions of mysteriousness with every test match he plays. The guy's average overseas is almost equal to the no. of matches he's played and yet he gets an unequivocal nod almost every series they're playing overseas, keeping a guy who averages 55 overseas out of the team in the process. And if it's about present form then why in the bloody hell is Dhawan playing over KL Rahul? This is just mind boggling.

India did compete in this test, no doubt but there is just no other Test that they deserved to lose more than this because of their own rigidness and transparent partiality, no doubt about that either.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Practice matches are useless, as you don't get the chance to correct your mistakes. Practice sessions are more valuable..of course, with similar pitches as one would get during the matches.

India was right in their approach.

 

[jagatk]

Practice matches once upon a time were useful today they are basically 3 days of unnecessary effort that do not help the players to get acclimatized to the conditions as the practice match conditions and actual match conditions are completely different.

 

[Proactive_]

Practice matches are useless, as you don't get the chance to correct your mistakes. Practice sessions are more valuable..of course, with similar pitches as one would get during the matches.

India was right in their approach.

It's not just about the surface, it's about acclimatizing, identifying the swing, identifying the bounce because it sure as well wouldn't be anywhere near what the subcontinent presents and you surely can't do that utilizing a couple of net bowlers on a practice wicket. It's better to make the mistakes in a practice match rather than making them in the Test match succeeding it.

 

[lehen]

Indian batting not good enough with 2-3 passengers who also can't catch. overall a fair result

 

[Madplayer]

Practice matches once upon a time were useful today they are basically 3 days of unnecessary effort that do not help the players to get acclimatized to the conditions as the practice match conditions and actual match conditions are completely different.

Its better to go to places like England, SA, Aus a month earlier. Whether it be for practice sessions of practice matches.

 

[Hermoine Green]

It was posted by some mod i guess @giri bro that this Indian side is not good enough for over seas tours.

 

[troodon]

It's not just about the surface, it's about acclimatizing, identifying the swing, identifying the bounce because it sure as well wouldn't be anywhere near what the subcontinent presents and you surely can't do that utilizing a couple of net bowlers on a practice wicket. It's better to make the mistakes in a practice match rather than making them in the Test match succeeding it.

The pitches are different and the bowlers are usually college kids. Totally deceiving the touring teams.

England played practice matches during this Ashes tour and see what happened to them.

Practice matches only makes sense when the pitches are similar and the bowlers are not college kids.

 

[Raja Sab]

as if it would make any difference. All I see now is a bunch of excuses

 

[Varun]

Don't you know?

The best practice is playing an ODI vs Sri Lanka in Pallekele or Indore two nights before Day 1 of the opening test in faraway South Africa.

Rohit Sharma needs a good old double to make sure he clocks up all those frequent flier miles enroute.

 

[Proactive_]

The pitches are different and the bowlers are usually college kids. Totally deceiving the touring teams.

England played practice matches during this Ashes tour and see what happened to them.

Practice matches only makes sense when the pitches are similar and the bowlers are not college kids.

Trust me it's much better than getting thrown pies in the nets.

Australia were dreadful in their practice match before Pune and we all know what happened there.

 

[Savak]

Practice matches or Practice sessions, this Indian Batting line up is exposed in conditions where there is always something for the bowlers. England exploited this in 2014 and now South Africa exploited this right now. Since the 2014 England series, India to be honest barring that Asia Cup in 2016 haven't really faced tough batting conditions.

Give them a flat pitch and they will murder you, the problem is that they play most of their cricket on excellent flat batting wickets of India 90% of the times which is why they appear to be better than they actually are.

 

[CricketCartoons]

It's not just about the surface, it's about acclimatizing, identifying the swing, identifying the bounce because it sure as well wouldn't be anywhere near what the subcontinent presents and you surely can't do that utilizing a couple of net bowlers on a practice wicket. It's better to make the mistakes in a practice match rather than making them in the Test match succeeding it.

How will a batsman who gets out cheaply during a practice match be able to acclimatize and get used to the swing and bounce? Also are the second string opposition bowlers that are given for practice be better than the indian bowlers, and batting against them be more educative?

 

[Markhor]

College kids or not, one or two practice matches is better than nothing in order to get used to the surfaces and conditions.

In the new ICC Test League, it should be mandatory that every team gets at least one 4 day game before the start of a series.

 

[Proactive_]

How will a batsman who gets out cheaply during a practice match be able to acclimatize and get used to the swing and bounce? Also are the second string opposition bowlers that are given for practice be better than the indian bowlers, and batting against them be more educative?

Well if a player is getting out cheaply to a club team in multiple practice matches then either his head is not on the job or he isn't good enough to be in the team for the tour in the first place. That's why you got to have your match mode on in these matches and take them seriously. That's something net practice can never give you. Obviously the entire purpose of the matches is to spend time in the middle and it isn't like they're facing anywhere near the quality of bowlers they're going to face later.

 

[Abhilash93]

Practice matches or Practice sessions, this Indian Batting line up is exposed in conditions where there is always something for the bowlers. England exploited this in 2014 and now South Africa exploited this right now. Since the 2014 England series, India to be honest barring that Asia Cup in 2016 haven't really faced tough batting conditions.

Give them a flat pitch and they will murder you, the problem is that they play most of their cricket on excellent flat batting wickets of India 90% of the times which is why they appear to be better than they actually are.

South Africa also got bowled out for 130.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Practice matches or Practice sessions, this Indian Batting line up is exposed in conditions where there is always something for the bowlers. England exploited this in 2014 and now South Africa exploited this right now. Since the 2014 England series, India to be honest barring that Asia Cup in 2016 haven't really faced tough batting conditions.

Give them a flat pitch and they will murder you, the problem is that they play most of their cricket on excellent flat batting wickets of India 90% of the times which is why they appear to be better than they actually are.

I am not surprised to see this kind of performance from Indian team but still some delusional fans were dreaming of winning this series against SA. Hopefully they have safely landed back on the earth. This is a one man army as far as batting is concerned. Guys like dhawan and rohit are a joke in these conditions.

 

[troodon]

Practice matches or Practice sessions, this Indian Batting line up is exposed in conditions where there is always something for the bowlers. England exploited this in 2014 and now South Africa exploited this right now. Since the 2014 England series, India to be honest barring that Asia Cup in 2016 haven't really faced tough batting conditions.

Give them a flat pitch and they will murder you, the problem is that they play most of their cricket on excellent flat batting wickets of India 90% of the times which is why they appear to be better than they actually are.

These are not easy conditions to bat. Ball was swinging and seaming even on Day-4.

SA should have never scored 280 in their first innings. The score of 200 by India is also a bit deceiving. More like bowlers losing concentrations when counter attacked.

The 2nd innings scores of 130 by SA and 135 by India shows that this is a very difficult pitch.

If Indian batting is exposed, then so is SA batting.

I do agree that Rahul should come in for Sharma. I would want to give Dhawan one more Test. He just needs some luck and he will score quickly a half century. Better than Vijay who plays timid and gets out.

 

[Thomaskutty]

The pitch was tough but OP is right. Flying in just one week before a SA tour with no practice matches really is the height of arrogance. Shame on Kohli

 

[austerlitz]

Disgraceful batting by ***** tailender 'team management ka 30 yr old ladla' sharma.I hope this is the end of his test career and kohli and the cheerleader have learnt their lesson.Rahane in please.

Dhawan was always a walking wicket,but he has been simply bounced out twice.Time to get rahul in.

Kohli was the only one who showed intent in the 2nd innings.Pujara adn vijay didn't play well this test ,but i'm not writing them off yet.I don't understand why they are playing ashwin if he won't bowl,why not play a 4rth seamer like yadav or ishant?

 

[Abdullah719]

Virat Kohli Reveals The Reason For Picking Rohit Sharma Over Ajinkya Rahane

When India announced their playing XI for the first Test against South Africa on Day 1, a few eyebrows were raised especially with Ajinkya Rahane's name missing. Rohit Sharma was chosen over India's vice-captain and that had angered some fans. The decision didn't bear fruit as Rohit recorded scores of 11 and 10 in his two innings as the famed Indian batting line-up failed to fire in pace-friendly conditions against a potent South African pace battery. Following India's 72-run loss on Day 4, Indian skipper Virat Kohli revealed the reasoning behind the selection.

Speaking after the match at Newlands, Kohli defended the team selection saying that Rohit was picked over Rahane based on current form.

"Well, we decided to go on current form. Rohit has scored runs in the last three Test matches that he has played, and he was batting well, even in the series against Sri Lanka," said Kohli in the post-match media conference.

"These things can always be looked at in hindsight -- thinking what if or what if not. But we decided to go with this combination and current form was definitely the criterion," added Kohli.

Rahane, who has not been amongst the runs of late, had a successful tour of South Africa four years ago. With 209 runs, he was third highest run-getter in the series behind Kohli (272 runs) and Cheteshwar Pujara (280).

India lost the first Test by 72 runs with the batting letting them down in both the innings.

Meanwhile, South African captain Faf du Plessis too was left surprised with some of India's team selection. The Proteas skipper said that the inclusion of Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit in India's playing XI had surprised him and his team.

"We were surprised yes. We didn't think that Jasprit Bumrah would have played. We know that he's done really well in one-day cricket but we were preparing more for the other seamers because they've played a lot of Tests," said Du Plessis.

"I think the other guy was Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane. He's been in a bit of form one-day cricket wise so they're probably just running with that," he said.

https://sports.ndtv.com/south-afric...king-rohit-sharma-over-ajinkya-rahane-1797514

 

[Hasan123]

Definitely should have got a practice game in there. It's not like India are playing game after game in these type of conditions. Poor planning from BCCI.

 

[Abdullah719]

Definitely should have got a practice game in there. It's not like India are playing game after game in these type of conditions. Poor planning from BCCI.

There was a practice match scheduled but the Indian team decided that training sessions were better.

Even as Team India practiced indoors on Sunday due to rain in Cape Town, Kohli had earlier said after the outdoor practice session, "If you look at the wicket that we are practicing on right now then it is not even 15 per cent of what we are going to get in the game so we understand that.

"There is no point wasting two days in which guys go out and score quick fifties and come out. We would rather have them do two sessions like today and get into the Test match zone and test ourselves. We can try and prepare the wicket the way we want to but if you are playing a two-day game then there is no room for changing the wicket at different times of the day."

The Indian team management had earlier cancelled their one-off two-day practice game and instead decided to hold extended practice sessions to gear up for the Test series but those preparations have not been ideal with the pitch not being up to the mark.

Still the team is not sweating over the same and are focused on gearing up to face the no.2 ranked Test team in their own backyard.

"Here we have the option to just put more water on the wicket, roll it & make it harder come tomorrow's practice session and then we will have conditions that we want. You are never sure if you are going to get quality practice games or not. We would rather have practice sessions that are in our control. It does not matter whether you play three practice games if you are not in the right frame of mind starting January 5. If you are in a good head space and have practice sessions then I feel that is good enough as well", added Kohli.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/...am-india-india-vs-south-africa/1/1121155.html

 

[Hasan123]

There was a practice match scheduled but the Indian team decided that training sessions were better.

Wrong call. In fact if I was in the BCCI I would have not had the LO series versus Sri Lanka and spent that time adjusting to South African conditions and played a practice game or two.

 

[Rana]

Not sure if its down to Practice or simply the fact that players like Sharma are really not good enough in seaming conditions as such. What I like about kohli is that even though he is also half the batsman he is on such tracks, yet he still tries to play his natural game and backs his technique. Im not sure which player is more of a disgrace in Test Cricket between Babar and Sharma, considering both of them are exceptionally talented limited overs players

 

[jagatk]

Its better to go to places like England, SA, Aus a month earlier. Whether it be for practice sessions of practice matches.

Agree with that, apparently BCCI offered to let the core team go to SA early and skip the SL series completely the team management declined the offer.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

India are slow starters when it comes to bilateral tours. Expecting them to bounce back as the tour goes on.
Ravi Shastri has dangerous affinity of "aggressive players" when it comes to Tests, like Rohit, Dhawan, Raina.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

I am not surprised to see this kind of performance from Indian team but still some delusional fans were dreaming of winning this series against SA. Hopefully they have safely landed back on the earth. This is a one man army as far as batting is concerned. Guys like dhawan and rohit are a joke in these conditions.

It's more annoying to see people who can't understand that India being favourite to win the match at one stage of the fourth innings is a massive accomplishment given how hard playing overseas is and given the opposing bowling attack was allegedly world-class. India played an amazing game, nearly came back from the dead and brain-dead fans behave like entitled fools and start abusing.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

Agree with that, apparently BCCI offered to let the core team go to SA early and skip the SL series completely the team management declined the offer.

And rightly too.

No joker should ever suggest that practicing for a Test match be bigger than playing for your country.

 

[jagatk]

And rightly too.

No joker should ever suggest that practicing for a Test match be bigger than playing for your country.

You cannot be serious right? are you really say that a stupid bilateral of series against SL who we played a a month ago before that is more important than a test against SA in SA. Now I know why we don't progress away from home no need to when fans like you are happy beating minnows at home rather than getting ready for actual competition. Also much of the team that is playing in SA was not involved in SL series, so much for your hyper nationalism.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

You cannot be serious right? are you really say that a stupid bilateral of series against SL who we played a a month ago before that is more important than a test against SA in SA. Now I know why we don't progress away from home no need to when fans like you are happy beating minnows at home rather than getting ready for actual competition. Also much of the team that is playing in SA was not involved in SL series, so much for your hyper nationalism.

I am not 'hyper-nationalistic' by any standard.

I am opposed to disrespecting cricket. And that is what you do, when you say that only away Tests is real cricket, and even national games for the country can be treated with disdain as though they don't matter. Stuff this mentality of yours. 10 times as many people are interested to watch those series you don't care about. They came to see national side play. Of course it matters that team plays and plays it's best.

Nobody will give special preferences to your minority view-point and treat everything else as irrelevant. I do want India to win, but not at the cost of treating every other cricket as irreelvant.

Every game of cricket matters for me, and better that people respect the game

 

[CricketAnalyst]

By the same logic, why doesn't SA also treat this game as meaningless and rest everyone for some other series. Makes perfect sense as per your logic..

 

[CricketAnalyst]

You cannot be serious right? are you really say that a stupid bilateral of series against SL who we played a a month ago before that is more important than a test against SA in SA. Now I know why we don't progress away from home no need to when fans like you are happy beating minnows at home rather than getting ready for actual competition. Also much of the team that is playing in SA was not involved in SL series, so much for your hyper nationalism.

Also, you are ignorant if you think SL are minnows. In this series they performed better than England, Australia, NewZealand, South Africa etc did against India in the same conditions. They also beat Pakistan away. They beat England last time they went.

 

[jagatk]

I am not 'hyper-nationalistic' by any standard.

I am opposed to disrespecting cricket. And that is what you do, when you say that only away Tests is real cricket, and even national games for the country can be treated with disdain as though they don't matter. Stuff this mentality of yours. 10 times as many people are interested to watch those series you don't care about. They came to see national side play. Of course it matters that team plays and plays it's best.

Nobody will give special preferences to your minority view-point and treat everything else as irrelevant. I do want India to win, but not at the cost of treating every other cricket as irreelvant.

Every game of cricket matters for me, and better that people respect the game

Did I say away tests are real tests nope that is your own imagination. Also even the Indian team used the SL tests as a practice for SA tests with pitches made similar to SA so again when the team management and players showed us what mattered more.

Also we play SL like they we both are 2 School children, every few days there is a SL v Ind going on I do not disrespect it the scheduling does.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Agree with that, apparently BCCI offered to let the core team go to SA early and skip the SL series completely the team management declined the offer.

Seriously?

Any links?

Like seriously team management declined that?

 

[Madplayer]

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

)

Hahahaha

So funny.

 

[jagatk]

Seriously?

Any links?

Like seriously team management declined that?

http://indianexpress.com/article/sp...d-core-players-to-south-africa-early-5018196/

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

http://indianexpress.com/article/sp...d-core-players-to-south-africa-early-5018196/

Wow...Just wow.

Please open a thread if you wish to.

 

[soso_killer]

I am not surprised to see this kind of performance from Indian team but still some delusional fans were dreaming of winning this series against SA. Hopefully they have safely landed back on the earth. This is a one man army as far as batting is concerned. Guys like dhawan and rohit are a joke in these conditions.

perhaps so, but it was silly to drop that one man capable of scoring overseas. You simply don't drop your best player. Rahane should never be dropped again.

 

[soso_killer]

These are not easy conditions to bat. Ball was swinging and seaming even on Day-4.

SA should have never scored 280 in their first innings. The score of 200 by India is also a bit deceiving. More like bowlers losing concentrations when counter attacked.

The 2nd innings scores of 130 by SA and 135 by India shows that this is a very difficult pitch.

If Indian batting is exposed, then so is SA batting.

I do agree that Rahul should come in for Sharma. I would want to give Dhawan one more Test. He just needs some luck and he will score quickly a half century. Better than Vijay who plays timid and gets out.

I wouldn't say SA got exposed at all. They won by 75 runs in a low scoring match having batted in tougher conditions. It was a comfortable victory in the end. It's scary to think what will happen should they click with that bowling attack behind them.

 

[jagatk]

Wow...Just wow.

Please open a thread if you wish to.

No thanks, stupidity needs to be contained not spread because that is what the whole farce is sheer utter stupidity, it is like we learnt nothing from the ausies about how to prepare for conditions you get routinely humiliated in.

 

[jagatk]

I wouldn't say SA got exposed at all. They won by 75 runs in a low scoring match having batted in tougher conditions. It was a comfortable victory in the end. It's scary to think what will happen should they click with that bowling attack behind them.

It was a comfortable win because everyone apart from bhubaneswar wasted the first day and in such a close match dropping catches is like shooting yourself in the foot, if the others had bowled with even half the consistency they showed in 2nd innings that would have been a cracker of a finish.

 

[soso_killer]

That's classic

 

[soso_killer]

It was a comfortable win because everyone apart from bhubaneswar wasted the first day and in such a close match dropping catches is like shooting yourself in the foot, if the others had bowled with even half the consistency they showed in 2nd innings that would have been a cracker of a finish.

South Africa missed clear cut chances than India.
They dropped Pandya on 15 and missed a stumping. I don't think AB (along Faf) offered any chances.
Without Pandya's 93 SA were probably looking at a 150+ lead. Rain on day 3 didn't help SA either.

IMO India have more to do of the two teams. South Africa know they can get out of tough situations having recovered from 12/3. India are probably worried about the toss as we speak, they want to bowl first. They are probably having nightmares about batting first in similar conditions to Cape Town. South Africa came on the other side and will have more belief than the Indians.

 

[CricketAnalyst]

Seriously?

Any links?

Like seriously team management declined that?

People simply don't agree with your view that Test matches in general or away ones in particular are so important that everything else must go to the dogs.

 

[Abdullah719]

Ajinkya Rahane's average against South Africa in Tests: 59.37
Rohit Sharma's average against South Africa in Tests: 9.27

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Ajinkya Rahane's average against South Africa in Tests: 59.37
Rohit Sharma's average against South Africa in Tests: 9.27

Lol. Too funny.

 

[Abdullah719]

How is Karthik playing ahead of Rahul?

 

[jnaveen1980]

How is Karthik playing ahead of Rahul?

Rahul i am sure has done something that Kohli didn't like. We never know what goes on in the dressing room. If someone is purposely ignored and everybody who watches knows it and the managements acts as if nobody else notices it then there is something fishy going on.

 

[jagatk]

How is Karthik playing ahead of Rahul?

Favoritism. Which is why DK and Rohit have had 100 games to get their place fixed but giving KL and Pandey more 5-6 is considered taboo