South Africa [286 and 130] beat India [209 and 135] by 72 runs in the first Test to take 1-0 series

[Usman Chadda]

This wasn't a green-top, but good bowling conditions. And South Africa has comfortably beat India in them, contrary to popular belief. This was India's chance and they reduced it to a Pandya vs South Africa contest.

 

[ego-gambit]

3 changes for next match
KL Rahul in for anyone Vijay / Dhawan
Parthiv Patel for Saha
Rahane for Rohit
Bumhrah retain his place by getting De villiers twice

 

[soso_killer]

No offence but Steyn is 4th best bowler in this match.. Ofcourse his loss will hurt SA but that is because it will put more burden on Rabada and Others..

On what basis? Even Pandya was dropped of Steyn. Two balls later he trapped Saha with reverse swing. He was brilliant.

 

[AuxiliA]

3 changes for next match
KL Rahul in for anyone Vijay / Dhawan
Parthiv Patel for Saha
Rahane for Rohit
Bumhrah retain his place by getting De villiers twice

Saha has been good with the gloves in this match, doubt Parthiv can replicate that. But yeah Parthiv can be a much better counter attacking option than Saha in these conditions.

Gosh!! DHONI has been such a great loss for Indian cricket. He has revived Indian innings from precarious positions countless times, even in 'foreign' conditions.

 

[MenInG]

VERNON PHILANDER took the final three India second innings wickets in the space of four balls – the first with a sensational catch by Quinton de Kock standing up to the stumps – to snuff out any thought of a final twist in the tale of the first Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands on Monday to clinch a 72-run victory for the Standard Bank Proteas.

Prior to Philander’s triple strike there was just a chance that India might pull off an improbable win as Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar put together an eighth-wicket stand of 49 after India had collapsed to 82/7 in pursuit of a victory target of 208 which was only one run short of what they had managed in the first innings.

Philander finished with career-best figures of 6/42 – improving on his 6/44 against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2011/12.

It was his 12th five-wicket haul in Test cricket with only Dale Steyn (26), Allan Donald (20), Makhaya Ntini (18), Shaun Pollock (16) and Hugh Tayfield (14) having done better in South African colours.

It was a wonderful climax to a thoroughly entertaining match which was effectively decided in three days. On what turned out to be the final day 18 wickets fell for 200 runs as the Proteas first collapsed from their overnight 65/2 to 130 all out from a little bit short of 22 overs and India were then bowled out for 135 in 42.4 overs.

This compared with the 23 wickets that fell in one day for 294 runs when the Proteas scored a remarkable come from behind victory against Australia at the same venue in 2011.

In the end the 77-run first innings lead proved critical for the Proteas.

The combination of the third day’s rain coupled with a fair amount of cloud clover produced a surface that if anything was trickier than it had been on the first day. Apart from those batsmen who were dismissed bowled or leg before wicket nearly all the wickets were the result of catches in the cordon behind the wicket.

Wridhiman Saha took 10 catches in the match for India and De Kock 7 for the Proteas. The home side’s slip catching was a vast improvement on recent performances with Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers taking two catches each and substitute fielder Chris Morris one in the gulley.

Philander was named Sunfoil Man of the Match for his figures of 9/75 although a case could also be made out for AB de Villiers with his half-century in the first innings followed by his making 35 of the 65 runs the Proteas managed on the final morning.

The Sunfoil Educational Trust (SET) benefited to the tune of R214 000 for the number of boundaries and sixes hit in the match and wickets taken.

 

[Protea Fan]

Told you guys. South Africa has this habit of choking whenever they bat in second innings. Judging by Kohlis mood and no steyn, this is Indias chance to win. If Kohli is confident, the whole team feels confident. Otherwise, its vice versa.

Easy win for India. South Africa as usual choked under pressure made Bumrah, Shami, Pandya and Kumar like Walsh, Mcgrath, Wasim and Marshall

Oh yaa

 

[Robert]

An excellent test match. Well done to the groundsman for providing a helpful wicket.

 

[troodon]

Saha has been excellent with gloves. But his batting blows. He looked like getting out any ball and he cannot even counter attack.

Will be harsh to drop Saha, but Parthiv Patel is a much better batsman than Saha and can at least contribute 20-30 runs. But his golove work is not as good as Saha.

Also, Parthiv can even open and pretty much bat at any position.

Will be a difficult decision. But I think Saha will get another chance.

Rohit should be dropped permanantly in away tours for Test matches. He has no business of playing in Testing conditions.

Murali Vijay has lost it. He scored against Lanka which even Rohit did. Vijay is playign too timid and finally plays a stupid shot and gets out. Not good enough after that injury.

My Team for Next Test...
Rahul
Dhawan (last chance)
Puajara
Kohli
Rahane
Parthiv Patel ( willing to take a chance)
Pandya
Ashwin
BKumar
Shami
Bumrah

Can even drop Dhawan and open with Parthiv. Play Vijay in middle order. Vijay may score if the ball is a bit old. He is not looking good against the new ball.

 

[Protea Fan]

Abd's gritty knock in both innings proved crucial and also shows that he still is the best batsman SA have right now

What a tight slap to pundits who claimed he won't feature in white jersey ever

When looking at his current sumptuous touch with the bat hope he score some daddy hundreds in upcoming tests

 

[CricketCartoons]

An excellent test match. Well done to the groundsman for providing a helpful wicket.

Well done to India, who provided an excellent Test match despite not being at their best. They are going to roll over South Africa in the next match.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Good test match overall.Best of the year so far

 

[AuxiliA]

Saha has been excellent with gloves. But his batting blows. He looked like getting out any ball and he cannot even counter attack.

Will be harsh to drop Saha, but Parthiv Patel is a much better batsman than Saha and can at least contribute 20-30 runs. But his golove work is not as good as Saha.

Also, Parthiv can even open and pretty much bat at any position.

Will be a difficult decision. But I think Saha will get another chance.

Rohit should be dropped permanantly in away tours for Test matches. He has no business of playing in Testing conditions.

Murali Vijay has lost it. He scored against Lanka which even Rohit did. Vijay is playign too timid and finally plays a stupid shot and gets out. Not good enough after that injury.

My Team for Next Test...
Rahul
Dhawan (last chance)
Puajara
Kohli
Rahane
Parthiv Patel ( willing to take a chance)
Pandya
Ashwin
BKumar
Shami
Bumrah

Can even drop Dhawan and open with Parthiv. Play Vijay in middle order. Vijay may score if the ball is a bit old. He is not looking good against the new ball.

Agree!

Even if its an impulsive call replacing Saha with Parthiv, I will take the gamble. We need to strengthen our batting.

Most importantly, Dhawan and Rohit need to make way for Rahul and Rahane. Enough of this KHOLI YAARI XI!

 

[Ab Fan]

Excellent comeback from AB in white jersey. SA would have been all out for 120 in first inning if AB had got out cheap.

Philander was the hero of the match but ABDV played an important part too in both the innings.

 

[soso_killer]

Wish we had Sachin out there.

Now there's a guy who knew how to bat in South Africa.

To be fair Tendulkar didn't have a great record in South Africa either. He had one good tour, which consistent of a bowling attack of Morkel, Tsotsobe and Harris.
Even India's two victories in this country had nothing to do with him.

I don't think he would have done much against this attack, especially in these conditions. He retired at the first sight of Philander and chose to play the Windies at home instead.

What India needed was a fighter, not a technical correct batsman. That guy goes by the name of VVS Laxman. Now that was a hard man. Probably the most underrated bat of all time. He was clutch as they come, and an opportunist too. This match needed someone to grab that opportunity, it was low scoring enough.

 

[soso_killer]

Next match will most likely be on flat track. Kohli will score century but india will loose as our bowlers will look like trundlers.

The next match is at Centurion, I can't remember if there's ever been a draw there. Flat deck is definitely out of the equation.

 

[RagingJ]

Excellent comeback from AB in white jersey. SA would have been all out for 120 in first inning if AB had got out cheap.

Philander was the hero of the match but ABDV played an important part too in both the innings.

Also took some good catches, especially the stunning diving catch to remove Pandya in the second innings.

In saying that, De Kock's catch standing up to Philander was good too, considering at that pace and it was the first ball in that situation.

 

[EliteCynical]

Depressed and Disappointed. Congrats to South Africa. Well deserved. All India had to do was hang on and conditions got better when Ashwin was batting. I guess enough post mortem has already been done!


This is now officially on my "Hurts more than anything" list. Other entrants are
Barbados 1997
Chennai 1998
Kolkata 1999
Karachi 2006
Auckland 2013
Adelaide 2014

 

[Syed1]

Depressed and Disappointed. Congrats to South Africa. Well deserved. All India had to do was hang on and conditions got better when Ashwin was batting. I guess enough post mortem has already been done!


This is now officially on my "Hurts more than anything" list. Other entrants are
Barbados 1997
Chennai 1998
Kolkata 1999
Karachi 2006
Auckland 2013
Adelaide 2014

I don't remember alot about the other matches but Karachi 2006 wasn't even close... Idk why it would be on your hurts list.

 

[Sadevdesai]

Indians should have known that they will fold for a low score, when SA did it in their 2nd Innings !!!!!

 

[Abdullah]

I don't remember alot about the other matches but Karachi 2006 wasn't even close... Idk why it would be on your hurts list.

LOL because even I thought the game was over at 26-6 about 7 minutes in!!

 

[Abdullah]

A huge bottle job by India. They had the best of the conditions and they couldn't make it work. The rain yesterday juiced up the pitch for a few hours this morning. They just needed to hang in there for 25 overs and see off the new ball and the long first spells of the 3 quicks and the pitch was easing up with the sun when rohit and kohli got into their partnership and SA being a bowler down would have started to look flat very soon. Huge opportunity missed.
Rohit was truly awful

 

[Abdullah]

Cricinfo calls Ashwin a bowling all-rounder! He has bowled 7 overs in this match.

Thats is such a silly comment. Maharaj is a bowler and he only bowled 10. So what

 

[Monsee]

He wasn't far off his prediction they got 344 in both inns combined )

Then they won...almost

 

[MMHS]

Excellent comeback from AB in white jersey. SA would have been all out for 120 in first inning if AB had got out cheap.

Philander was the hero of the match but ABDV played an important part too in both the innings.

Signs are alarming for IND - guy is looking dangerous. He is one guy who would stack up a triple in a day on song.

 

[coy0607]

test cricket needs more matches like this one

 

[EliteCynical]

I don't remember alot about the other matches but Karachi 2006 wasn't even close... Idk why it would be on your hurts list.

coz Pak was 0/3 and 39/6

 

[EliteCynical]

LOL because even I thought the game was over at 26-6 about 7 minutes in!!

26/6 was 1999 Kolkata. Karachi was 39/6

 

[EliteCynical]

To be fair Tendulkar didn't have a great record in South Africa either. He had one good tour, which consistent of a bowling attack of Morkel, Tsotsobe and Harris.
Even India's two victories in this country had nothing to do with him.

I don't think he would have done much against this attack, especially in these conditions. He retired at the first sight of Philander and chose to play the Windies at home instead.

What India needed was a fighter, not a technical correct batsman. That guy goes by the name of VVS Laxman. Now that was a hard man. Probably the most underrated bat of all time. He was clutch as they come, and an opportunist too. This match needed someone to grab that opportunity, it was low scoring enough.

What? Seriously. He hit 111 in 1992, 169 in 1996, 151 in 2001, 111* and 146 in 2010. He only failed in
2006/07. Agree with the Laxman part. He won us the Durban game. It is sad Sachin's name aint associated with important wins abroad, but he always scored runs, but sadly there are 10 other men playing the game.

 

[EliteCynical]

Excellent comeback from AB in white jersey. SA would have been all out for 120 in first inning if AB had got out cheap.

Philander was the hero of the match but ABDV played an important part too in both the innings.

He was the difference TBH. He didn't look like getting out. Looked far too much at ease. I am worried

 

[big_gamer007]

On what basis? Even Pandya was dropped of Steyn. Two balls later he trapped Saha with reverse swing. He was brilliant.

Ofcourse he was brilliant no one denies that but Rabada worth extra pace, Morkel with uneven bounce and philander with impeccable line and length were better than Steyn.. Morkel might be hit and miss bowler but his extra bounce and seam one ball can get a wicket and Indian batsmen aren’t used to play such a bowler.. Steyn was great no doubt but he’s not the old Steyn we know still a top bowler..

 

[soso_killer]

Ofcourse he was brilliant no one denies that but Rabada worth extra pace, Morkel with uneven bounce and philander with impeccable line and length were better than Steyn.. Morkel might be hit and miss bowler but his extra bounce and seam one ball can get a wicket and Indian batsmen aren’t used to play such a bowler.. Steyn was great no doubt but he’s not the old Steyn we know still a top bowler..

Pace and Bounce and what not is irrelevant.
You made an assertion that Steyn was the 4th best bowler. On what basis? The Indian's couldn't deal with him. He was far from being the fourth best bowler in the first innings.
He was the only one to extract reverse swing.

 

[soso_killer]

What? Seriously. He hit 111 in 1992, 169 in 1996, 151 in 2001, 111* and 146 in 2010. He only failed in
2006/07. Agree with the Laxman part. He won us the Durban game. It is sad Sachin's name aint associated with important wins abroad, but he always scored runs, but sadly there are 10 other men playing the game.

He was never consistent. A hundred either came or followed a string of low scores. 2011 was the exception, it's not a coincidence that was our weakest attack since readmission.

 

[EliteCynical]

He was never consistent. A hundred either came or followed a string of low scores. 2011 was the exception, it's not a coincidence that was our weakest attack since readmission.

Ok, you are definitely free to come to your conclusions. I will just put this here and quietly leave.
M I NO Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Avg 100 50
15 28 3 1161 169 155 146 46.44 5 3

 

[Smbhayi]

Australia would have punished us, especially on day two and three (had the rain stayed away).
It definitely spiced up the pitch.

India's batting was atrocious. IMO they have the attack to take 20 wickets in this country and should drop Ashwin for Rahane. He won't be of use in the highveld in any case.

They have to fatten that batting line up. My team for Pretoria and Johannesburg :

Vijay
Rahul
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Rohit
Pandya
Saha
Bhuvi
Shami
Bumrah

Yes Rohit, India will need as many bats in the highveld unless they have someone better. It's not fair on Rahane to come in and put all the baggage on him.

better to to play Jadeja and leave Rohit. better bowler, better fielder and probably better batsman too.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

better to to play Jadeja and leave Rohit. better bowler, better fielder and probably better batsman too.

Ashwin isn't a bad batsman tho

 

[jnaveen1980]

In the first innings India lost more sessions. India just could not win back those sessions in the 2nd innings. SA was the better team. Congrats to their win. This was technically warm up game for India.

 

[Savak]

Tendulkar has done well in South Africa, has plenty of hundreds there and all scored against the likes of Pollock, Donald, Klusenar, Mcmillan, Hayward, Ntini, Steyn, Morkel.

Not his fault that India never had the bowling attack to compete there unfortunately.

 

[Raf Pragmatic]

South Africa must take action against useless Maharaj. He sucks.

 

[Junaids]

South Africa 416 runs for 20 wickets.
India 344 runs for 20 wickets.

In the end, a very wide winning margin for such a low scoring Test.

 

[Savak]

South Africa 416 runs for 20 wickets.
India 344 runs for 20 wickets.

In the end, a very wide winning margin for such a low scoring Test.

Margin would have been higher had it not been for the Pandya knock, don't see Pandya playing such an innings again on this tour. India let SA score too many runs on this pitch in the first innings, De-villier's counter attacking innings made the difference.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

South Africa 416 runs for 20 wickets.
India 344 runs for 20 wickets.

In the end, a very wide winning margin for such a low scoring Test.

I have to disagree with the analogy. India mathematically was just 4 wickets away at overhauling that score.

Indian Average was 344/20 = 17.2 runs per wicket.
They lost by 72 runs

72 / 17.2 = another 4.18 wickets (only) for them to completely overhaul that target.

Had any one of the top players played a half decent innings, SA might've lost this actually.

 

[Junaids]

South Africa 416 runs for 20 wickets.
India 344 runs for 20 wickets.

In the end, a very wide winning margin for such a low scoring Test.

Margin would have been higher had it not been for the Pandya knock, don't see Pandya playing such an innings again on this tour. India let SA score too many runs on this pitch in the first innings, De-villier's counter attacking innings made the difference.

More than that, South Africa batted in far worse conditions for batting than India did.

FAF elected to bat on a juicy pitch and they fell to 12-3.

And then they resumed on Day 4 on a pitch which had sweated under the covers for a day.

In contrast, India batted in the best batting conditions.

India have massive, Pakistan-style problems. Their batsmen have awful techniques against a nagging off-stump Line, and that is all they will face in South Africa.

 

[Savak]

I have to disagree with the analogy. India mathematically was just 4 wickets away at overhauling that score.

Indian Average was 344/20 = 17.2 runs per wicket.
They lost by 72 runs

72 / 17.2 = another 4.18 wickets (only) for them to completely overhaul that target.

Had any one of the top players played a half decent innings, SA might've lost this actually.

The margin of defeat would have been even higher had it not been for Pandya's knock in the first innings.

 

[soso_killer]

Ok, you are definitely free to come to your conclusions. I will just put this here and quietly leave.
M I NO Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Avg 100 50
15 28 3 1161 169 155 146 46.44 5 3

My point still stands, why are showing me stats?
Here is a typical Tendulkar tour to SA.
1st Test: 11, 0
2nd Test: 34, 5
3rd Test: 120+*, DNB or 20*

Now notice how those not outs boost his average.
Another example :
1st Test: 111, 0
2nd Test: 5, 11
3rd Test: 6, 73*
Again that's a poor tour from a teams perspective.

You're not going to win away matches when your best player performs like that. Across 6 innings only one score of 50+ is unacceptable for your best batsman. Playing for oneself and for stats is all well and good, but I'm judging him in terms of team impact. He had none.

A better tour would be along these lines :
1st: 60, 40
2nd: 70, 20
3rd 45, 35

Those smallish scores are not scored in a vacuum. Remember the guy at the other end will be contributing too. It's partnerships that win you Test matches, especially away from home.
When your best player is hit or miss it becomes hard on everyone. Test cricket is a psychological game, seeing Tendulkar in the shed must have been hard on everyone.
Similar to us when we had Kirsten and Kallis as our best players. We moved Kallis to bat at four, because as soon as they were out the team would mentally disintegrate and collapse. When your best player is at the other end cricket doesn't seem so hard. At one stage Amla couldn't bat without Kallis as well. That's why I'm so disappointed with Tendulkar, he wasn't involved in many partnerships.

A 11 followed by a hundred at second dig when the match is probably gone isn't good enough. Tendulkar was never involved in meaningful partnerships, that's what hurt India. People can post stats all they want, but facts won't change that.

 

[samplepiece]

Congratulations to South Africa for winning an excellent test match.

From an Indian standpoint, we were definitely competitive and our bowling was good. Need the batsman to earn their pay in the rest of the series.

Honestly think AB was the difference. His first innings counter-attack allowed South Africa to reach 280+.

 

[samplepiece]

I dont why but I have this gut feeling that we will give the South Africans a run for their money despite losing the test. Our bowlers and Kohli were over-excited after the first 3 wickets in the first innings. I believe we have learnt a lesson and will keep things tighter going forward. Looking forward to the next tests.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

A lot of over-reaction. This batting lineup has proven itself away, so lets not ridicule them for failure in one test. It was a pitch where class batsman like Qdk and Amla also failed despite it being their home conditions.

3 things India did wrong.

- Selection. Ridiculous to drop Rahane and Rahul based on form. Dhawan is an ODI only player, the sooner the team realises the better. Rahul may fail but he is more technically adept than Dhawan in tough conditions. And Rahane dropped? Your vice fricken captain, dropped? SMH

- India's batting clearly lacked preparations. It was a very bad idea to let go off the sole practice game. No matter what side SA would have put up or pitch. It is always better to have match practice rather than hitting it out in the nets.

- India always have this one poor session that lets the game slip and they had that on day 1. Surprisingly it was in the very session Bhuvi took 3 quick wickets. To give runs at the rate of knots after that was just suicidal.

I think India will shrug this off, they need to bring in Rahul and Rahane, drop Rohit and Dhawan. As for Ashwin, I feel his place should depend on the pitch, if India think pitch wont aide spin, I'd like them to pick Yadav. Weaken the batting? Yes. But if our 5 batsman ain't gonna do it, 6th won't do jack. 5 bats + Saha, Bhuvi and Hardik should be enough.

 

[Savak]

A lot of over-reaction. This batting lineup has proven itself away, so lets not ridicule them for failure in one test. It was a pitch where class batsman like Qdk and Amla also failed despite it being their home conditions.

3 things India did wrong.

- Selection. Ridiculous to drop Rahane and Rahul based on form. Dhawan is an ODI only player, the sooner the team realises the better. Rahul may fail but he is more technically adept than Dhawan in tough conditions. And Rahane dropped? Your vice fricken captain, dropped? SMH

- India's batting clearly lacked preparations. It was a very bad idea to let go off the sole practice game. No matter what side SA would have put up or pitch. It is always better to have match practice rather than hitting it out in the nets.

- India always have this one poor session that lets the game slip and they had that on day 1. Surprisingly it was in the very session Bhuvi took 3 quick wickets. To give runs at the rate of knots after that was just suicidal.

I think India will shrug this off, they need to bring in Rahul and Rahane, drop Rohit and Dhawan. As for Ashwin, I feel his place should depend on the pitch, if India think pitch wont aide spin, I'd like them to pick Yadav. Weaken the batting? Yes. But if our 5 batsman ain't gonna do it, 6th won't do jack. 5 bats + Saha, Bhuvi and Hardik should be enough.

Kohli gets away with a lot because he is Kohli, previously it was Dhoni who kept getting away with questionable decisions but Kohli is not a T-20 and ODI WC captain winner.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Kohli gets away with a lot because he is Kohli, previously it was Dhoni who kept getting away with questionable decisions but Kohli is not a T-20 and ODI WC captain winner.

Kohli has gotten away with selection issues so far because India have been on a winning run. Obviously if we lose those calls will be questioned.

In fact even before we lost this test, lots of fans haven't been able to digest that Rahane was on the bench.

I think Kohli needs to understand that while form is a good indicator, some players need to be backed because of the class they have.

 

[Savak]

Kohli has gotten away with selection issues so far because India have been on a winning run. Obviously if we lose those calls will be questioned.

In fact even before we lost this test, lots of fans haven't been able to digest that Rahane was on the bench.

I think Kohli needs to understand that while form is a good indicator, some players need to be backed because of the class they have.

Kohli doesn't have a lot of love for attritional cricket, i believe he once criticized Pujara for batting too slowly and not scoring runs fast enough for the team's needs. It is clear where his thinking lies given that he is backing the likes of Dhawan, Rohit and Pandya.

I personally don't like his shouting, screaming and explitives he throws against the opposition batsman after getting a wicket, deep down he still behaves like a child and likes to be the bully 99% of the time. I personally don't think he will react very well at all in a series where his team get whitewashed and i can forsee episodes and new stories coming out where he fights with fellow players in the dressing room and taking his anger, frustrations out on them. I believe he once accussed Dhawan of faking an injury and not wanting to face Mitchel Johnson, he already succeeded in getting Kumble kicked out and his blue eyed boy Ravi Shastri back in.

Am not sold on Kohli the captain at all for the time being.

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

On what basis? Even Pandya was dropped of Steyn. Two balls later he trapped Saha with reverse swing. He was brilliant.

Just out of curiosity. Traditionally will the other wickets be greener/ more bowler friendly than the one from 1st test?

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

A lot of over-reaction. This batting lineup has proven itself away, so lets not ridicule them for failure in one test. It was a pitch where class batsman like Qdk and Amla also failed despite it being their home conditions.

3 things India did wrong.

- Selection. Ridiculous to drop Rahane and Rahul based on form. Dhawan is an ODI only player, the sooner the team realises the better. Rahul may fail but he is more technically adept than Dhawan in tough conditions. And Rahane dropped? Your vice fricken captain, dropped? SMH

- India's batting clearly lacked preparations. It was a very bad idea to let go off the sole practice game. No matter what side SA would have put up or pitch. It is always better to have match practice rather than hitting it out in the nets.

- India always have this one poor session that lets the game slip and they had that on day 1. Surprisingly it was in the very session Bhuvi took 3 quick wickets. To give runs at the rate of knots after that was just suicidal.

I think India will shrug this off, they need to bring in Rahul and Rahane, drop Rohit and Dhawan. As for Ashwin, I feel his place should depend on the pitch, if India think pitch wont aide spin, I'd like them to pick Yadav. Weaken the batting? Yes. But if our 5 batsman ain't gonna do it, 6th won't do jack. 5 bats + Saha, Bhuvi and Hardik should be enough.

Very Well Said and also Indian Bowlers really look up for it and skilled this time around.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Kohli doesn't have a lot of love for attritional cricket, i believe he once criticized Pujara for batting too slowly and not scoring runs fast enough for the team's needs. It is clear where his thinking lies given that he is backing the likes of Dhawan, Rohit and Pandya.

Yeah, nah....

This is Kohli after Pujara's longest innings test cricket where he had a S/R of <40.

"Sometimes I feel really bad for him that people don't understand his importance in this team so much. You know what a valuable player he is for us. He is the most composed player we have in the team. He is willing to grind for his runs, he does not mind batting under pressure, he likes to take the challenge of batting long. Someone like that is priceless to have in the team," the skipper said.

I personally don't like his shouting, screaming and explitives he throws against the opposition batsman after getting a wicket, deep down he still behaves like a child and likes to be the bully 99% of the time. I personally don't think he will react very well at all in a series where his team get whitewashed and i can forsee episodes and new stories coming out where he fights with fellow players in the dressing room and taking his anger, frustrations out on them. I believe he once accussed Dhawan of faking an injury and not wanting to face Mitchel Johnson, he already succeeded in getting Kumble kicked out and his blue eyed boy Ravi Shastri back in.

Am not sold on Kohli the captain at all for the time being.

You don't like the brash way he behaves? Well not everyone hates it either. And he has admitted in plenty of talk shows/interviews now that he will behave how he feels and not pretend to be something he is not, if that means he losses a few fans so be it. It was what gets the best out of him, so I ain't complaining.

As for what you forsee, I don't think the dressing room would be so bonded or gelled well if he was a captain that looked for scapegoats.

I think a lot of what you're looking into is not really there.

Is Kohli's selection poor in this test? Hell yeah but is he picking his buddies over reliable players? Nah.

He dropped Rohit after 4 poor tests for almost a year from tests, only after Rahane had a horrid series against Lanka did he drop Rahane (again which I don't agree with).

And yeah, that Dhawan story? Sorry but that's just fake media. These two get along the best, because of which now fans and media will twist a story that Kohli prefers his "Bhangra buddy" over Rahul.

 

[Princejain191]

First day probably cost us, this was a 200-par pitch, and Shami and Bumrah were disappointing on day 1. We could and should have had SA under 200 if we had bowled well as a team then.

 

[soso_killer]

Just out of curiosity. Traditionally will the other wickets be greener/ more bowler friendly than the one from 1st test?

The Newlands deck was a bit greener than usual. Could have been a lot greener and moist with seasonal rain.

Green wickets in SA are typically in the Highveld (Centurion and the Wanderes), by "green" I'm assuming quick and swinging decks.
In coastal areas (Kingsmead, Sahara Oval, Newlands) the grass holds the pitch together so it doesn't breakup and suit subcontinent teams on day 4 and 5. The pitches are on the slow side as well, so the grass does help in that regard to add a bit of pace. Moisture also has a role to play.

So a pitch can be green and not have exaggerated swing, think of the match between Pakistan and SA in Centurion (3rd Test IIRC). The grass was there to nullify Ajmal, it wasn't a "green mamba". Grass+moisture (maybe add overhead conditions as well) = "green mamba". They are a lottery in the Highveld.