South Africa A v India A | 1st unofficial Test | Rustenburg | Aug 17-20, 2013

[Sandeep]

only one spinner willl play

Ishant is crap,Zak is unfit.we need other options in seam bowling department

Kiwi probably hopes India stick with Ishant forever )

 

[Saurav]

SA will have to play pretty bad from here to lose.

lets see.but atleast the approach is right and aggressive

 

[Aman]

only one spinner willl play

Ishant is crap,Zak is unfit.we need other options in seam bowling department

Jadeja and Ishant are undroppable. I'm guessing Jadeja, BK and Ashwin will all play as all rounders.

I would go with this team
Dhawan
Vijay
Pujara
Tendulkar
Kohli
Rohit
MSD
BK
Ashwin
Zaheer/Shami/whoever
Ishant

A bowler short but I'd bowl a bit of Rohit and Kohli if bowlers need a rest.

 

[Saurav]

I find that extremely unlikely. We didn't experiment against Zimbabwe, and from whatever little cricket knowledge I have, I find it impossible to believe that these kids will be thrown against the top test team in the world irrespective of however they perform today.

we did play Shami,Mohit,Unadkat vs Zimbabwe.

they have atleast put themselves on the radar.if not the SA tour,they can be given chance in NZ,England etc.

Don't forget the broader aim of A tours is to develop players rather than prepare for upcoming tour with established players

 

[Saurav]

Jadeja and Ishant are undroppable. I'm guessing Jadeja, BK and Ashwin will all play as all rounders.

lol Ishant is not undroppable by any means.

Jadeja might be in the squad but it'll be stupid to play 2 spinners on SA tracks

 

[Sandeep]

Jadeja and Ishant are undroppable. I'm guessing Jadeja, BK and Ashwin will all play as all rounders.

What did I just read? )

 

[Aman]

What did I just read? )

Not by me

 

[Electron]

we did play Shami,Mohit,Unadkat vs Zimbabwe.

they have atleast put themselves on the radar.if not the SA tour,they can be given chance in NZ,England etc.

Don't forget the broader aim of A tours is to develop players rather than prepare for upcoming tour with established players

Just realized something else. Any team plays to win. So, focusing on Pujara, Dhawan, and Raina.. and depriving others a chance to win would have let the other 8 players down big-time.

So, fair enough.

 

[KIC]

Amusing comments.

A tours are generally about building a good second line or bench strength ...testing them in live situations. This particular A tour was also about trying to get some feel for the conditions ahead of the forthcoming SA tour. There is no reason one has to lean heavily in either direction. The batsmen got good practice, we already know that conditions are likely to be very different in the actual tour ...what is the point in them going out and getting another hit in the middle in a no pressure situation? On the other hand, the bowlers have something tangible - a win - to aim for. Shami, Unadkat, Pandey etc. may not play in the immediate tour of South Africa but why should their development be only about one tour? We have seen so many of our bowlers do well briefly and fall by the wayside that it makes sense to keep the pipeline healthy at all times.

Finally, this is no random practice match with every batsman batting and every bowler bowling. It is a formal four day test match and the main aim has to be winning. Choose experimental sides to fulfill the other objectives, but once you have done that, go for the win. It would have been the easiest decision to bat again ...but good to see the team willing to put in the hard yards.

 

[Varun]

We're smashing them 42/3 and they still trail by 183 on their follow-on.

Let's win this if we can.

 

[Varun]

Just figured that Pujara is skipper, nice.

 

[Aman]

I retract my comments earlier about it being fine for India to pick their test starters.

 

[Aman]

Just figured that Pujara is skipper, nice.

Any chance of Gambhir being picked ahead of Vijay?

 

[Varun]

Any chance of Gambhir being picked ahead of Vijay?

He might.

I retract my comments earlier about it being fine for India to pick their test starters.

Cute, but your input has zero weightage on the BCCICC's selection committee's decisions.

 

[Aman]

your input has zero weightage on the BCCICC's selection committee's decisions.

Meh who knows how much those 60 overs will be worth come December/January.

 

[Varun]

Meh who knows how much those 60 overs will be worth come December/January.

It won't be worth much, since we're going to get smashed 0-3 regardless.

By the way, how rubbish is Duminy? Never seen him hold up under pressure aside from that one-off Aussie tour.

 

[Aman]

By the way, how rubbish is Duminy? Never seen him hold up under pressure aside from that one-off Aussie tour.

Never really rated Duminy as a batsmen, he could be a handy all rounder for SA though.

It won't be worth much, since we're going to get smashed 0-3 regardless.

I like your style - aim low and avoid disappointment

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

LOL!!! a F/O enforced by India on a tour game in tests arena....

 

[Varun]

I like your style - aim low and avoid disappointment

Glass half full, yep.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

It won't be worth much, since we're going to get smashed 0-3 regardless.

By the way, how rubbish is Duminy? Never seen him hold up under pressure aside from that one-off Aussie tour.

Duminy played extremely well in the first innings.

I am NOT too sure about this 0-3 drubbing.

Slowly but surely, India is getting the bowlers that can do the job.

Bhuvi - I don't want to over-rate him but if SA is going to give us a green pitch, they have to face a rampaging Bhuvi.

He will have no over quota.

He can bowl long spells.

He can swing it both ways and seam it (I don't know whether both ways or not).

When we gave Pakistan green tracks in India, we saw what Bhuvi could do.

I also rate Mohit Sharma highly (from what little I have seen him).

He is similar to Herath in one aspect - Its very easy to under-rate him.

He doesn't swing the ball much.

He mainly relies on seam movement which does just about enough (both ways) to get an edge.

But as of now, he is STILL UNPROVEN.

Ishant - I have said this for years. If Ishant can bowl in 6 balls in the good length area with occasional bouncers, he is without a doubt one of the most lethal bowlers in the world.

But he doesn't do that. So let's see.

 

[KIC]

I don't know about 0-3 or anything else. However, I firmly believe that it is for the selectors to operate on a "long term" / "planning for the SA tour" basis. The players who are selected should stay in the present and focus on winning the match or series, as the case may be.

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

^ Anything apart from 0-3 will be a miracle. In long term their is at least few positions available for both the departments. Whether selectors say it to players or not, Few of the playing 11 know it that its just a matter of time

 

[Sandeep]

Shami having a good day.. 3 wickets now.. Africans 93-5

 

[Sandeep]

50 overs remaining, 5 wickets to get

 

[Gunner85]

Shami Is a decent prospect for a test spot.

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

Why are these africans in so much hurry. fours sixes and so on... Giving away 3 wickets to Raina

 

[KIC]

Raina's three first innings wickets were lbw, caught behind and lbw ...don't think it was a consequence of over attacking. I am sure the fielders are all close in ...so natural that there will be quite a few boundaries.

 

[Varun]

Duminy played extremely well in the first innings.

When the situation was devoid of any pressure, yeah.

Though I agree with the rest of your paragraph - our best bet is to throw a bunch of n00bs and hope to win the lottery - that kind of thing, instead of relying on 'experience' and 'precision' which for us by the way, is Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. No thanks.

Let the new kids get a go. If they go on a rampage against the South Africans, awesome. If not, it's nothing new anyway.

 

[Chromeuser]

4 to go!!!

 

[Ims1]

124 for 6 . Fantastic show this . 39 overs left & 4 wickets to take

 

[KIC]

Assuming we go to SA with 5 pacers, there is room for at least one or two newbies.

Yadav, Bhuvi and Ishant are sure to make it. Zaheer cannot be completely ruled out either.

That leaves Shami, Unadkat, Mohit, Vinay (shudder), Pandey et al to compete for one or two slots.

 

[Chromeuser]

3 to go!!!

 

[Noobosauras]

Jadeja and Ishant are undroppable. I'm guessing Jadeja, BK and Ashwin will all play as all rounders.

I would go with this team
Dhawan
Vijay
Pujara
Tendulkar
Kohli
Rohit
MSD
BK
Ashwin
Zaheer/Shami/whoever
Ishant

A bowler short but I'd bowl a bit of Rohit and Kohli if bowlers need a rest.

no offence, but a this team is missing the most promising wicket taker in Yadav. Of all the bowlers, he is the only one I am sure will do well in tests.

 

[Sandeep]

India A have completely outclassed South Africa A in this test.. Hopefully we'll show a better showing from the hosts in the next test.. Atleast a better surface helpful to them would suffice

 

[Varun]

Just proves that cricket is a batsman's game after all. Pile on the 582 first up, and watch the opposition choke. You don't even need proven performers with the cherry.

 

[Sandeep]

Just proves that cricket is a batsman's game after all. Pile on the 582 first up, and watch the opposition choke. You don't even need proven performers with the cherry.

second that..

 

[Aman]

no offence, but a this team is missing the most promising wicket taker in Yadav. Of all the bowlers, he is the only one I am sure will do well in tests.

I forgot about him

 

[Aman]

India A+ have completely outclassed South Africa A in this test.. Hopefully we'll show a better showing from the hosts in the next test.. Atleast a better surface helpful to them would suffice

Fixed

 

[Sandeep]

I forgot about him

Why do you use facepalm so many times? Looks funny

 

[Sandeep]

Meanwhile England Lions, effectively England's A team is massacring poor Bangla A boys.. Wright and Ballance destroying them

 

[Sandeep]

Wright 127* (62)

Ballance 115* (87)

 

[Sandeep]

Partnership of 225 off 20 overs

 

[Sandeep]

England's LOI stocks looking great for a change!

 

[Ims1]

Great win for A team .

 

[ahamedirshad123]

Just one wicket away

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

As usual, we wont get that one wicket.

 

[mithun_minhas]

Indian bowling cannot be this good.

20 wickets by trundlers and unknown spinners

 

[Chromeuser]

Great effort by Indian A team though they had seniors players from ODI team.

 

[Saurav]

victory

 

[Sandeep]

Game, set and match.. poor effort from hosts really

Pujara makes a case for test captaincy!

 

[Electron]

good.

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

Pandey and Shami did most of damage... Dont know but seems like it was a good show

 

[Sandeep]

Pandey is the real positive from this match... Took wickets when required.. Looks good

 

[mastermind_quad]

Good show....

 

[KIC]

Cheers

 

[Gunner85]

Well done

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

Pandey is the real positive from this match... Took wickets when required.. Looks good

Actually real encouraging thing was Rohit and Rainas century specifically Rohits.... Pujara one was expected.
If one or two of our batsman can score a good knoc each inning we may just be able to save the face

 

[battler]

I think on current form bhuvi,yadav and pandey should be our pace trio for africa,with zaheer and shami as back up

 

[Mp812]

Actually real encouraging thing was Rohit and Rainas century specifically Rohits.... Pujara one was expected.
If one or two of our batsman can score a good knoc each inning we may just be able to save the face

Rohit obviously is playing the wrong format (T20's) for India. He should be playing tests only or perhaps ODI's at most. Pujara and Rohit along with Kohli and Rahane should make test batting lineup as strong as it was during Sehwag/Ganguly.10dulkar/Dravid days. They all look technically correct .

Raina on other hand should never be in test team but only in T20s,ODIs only.

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

Rohit obviously is playing the wrong format (T20's) for India. He should be playing tests only or perhaps ODI's at most. Pujara and Rohit along with Kohli and Rahane should make test batting lineup as strong as it was during Sehwag/Ganguly.10dulkar/Dravid days. They all look technically correct .

Raina on other hand should never be in test team but only in T20s,ODIs only.

What was the technical flaw that caused Yuvi to fail miserably in test arena?
I understand that Raina has his issues with short ball but at the same time their are so many batsmen in the world who have some sort of weakness in test arena. Raina needs to find a consistent way to deal with the short balls i.e unashamedly duck all the time.