South Africa in India, Sept-Oct 2019

[prasen9]

We should still win if we have a slightly more batting pitch. I am not talking of rank batting pitches like olden days. Most Indian tests have finished in four days. I am talking a pitch that lasts five days but spins the last two days. Our spinners are better. We lost a match on a dustbowl against Australia, I think in Mumbai, because their less skillful players took wickets because we batted last. We will still win this one.

Australia did prepare batting pitches the last time we toured. New Zealand is a different ballgame. They will leave a lot of grass and there will be lots of swing.

[indiansportsfan]

While Australia did prepare batting pitches last time, that was before the WTC. With WTC, everything changes because every game matters. If Australia is still in the hunt for a WTC finals spot, which it will likely be, it will try to maximize it's points from it's home games.

[prasen9]

If we prepare rank turners and people like Rohit flourish and Pant struggles behind the wicket, we will see Pant dropped and Rohit given a longer run. That would mean that we will lose in Australia and New Zealand and England in the final. I am pretty sure we will win all the matches if we have sporting pitches that turn on days 4 and 5 instead of simply rank turners that spin heavily from day 1 with this team. At least try the first match to see how good their pace bowlers are and spinners are. Rank turners sometimes becomes an issue of who wins the toss. I do not want *draw* wickets. There must be results in all three matches. And, if that happens, we will win at home all three.

[Atithee]

India is now among the worst players of spin bowling and we do not have the undisputed best spinners in our ranks either. Rank turners can equally backfire on us.

[Sin Hombre]

Rohit obviously got a second ball duck against Philander in the practice match. Other openers all did well.

Kohli/Shastri/"team management" are all talking about how Rohit deserves an extended run in the test team.

Kohli/Shastri/"team management" continuously throwing Pant under the bus / no one gets 10-15 chances in a row.

Chahal talking about how he cries when Dhoni gets out. Rahane talking about how sad he gets when Rohit is not included in the test team.

Fixer as captain Azhar gets elected as the head of HCA.


Indian team is reaching lows of the late 90s. Really need BCCI to get back on its feet (throw out COA) with strong admins like Ganguly, Dravid and co, and get rid of the Kohli/Dhoni/Shastri cabal which is hell bent on ruining Indian cricket.

[prasen9]

The problem is that the media does not confront that with the fact that Rohit has been given an extended run with the test team and has been found to be woeful abroad. He is 32. It is stupid to still "invest" in a guy like him and not a youngster such as Gill. When we need an opener abroad due to an injury or something, then we will thrust Gill in without giving him a softer introduction at home because Rohit used up the home games and either was a dud or even if he was a FTB, he got shown up abroad.

[prasen9]

And now, Pant is dropped. This is indeed a *win-now* move. I hope Pant is being asked to work like crazy on his keeping on Indian dustbowls. I am a big Saha fan and love watching keepers with good technique but Pant is really the future. Even if we have go beyond Pant, we need to give him a fair run. We should have given him a longer rope.

[prasen9]

Kohli says Saha will keep all three games. Then release Pant and let him play the domestics.

[Sin Hombre]

And now, Pant is dropped. This is indeed a *win-now* move. I hope Pant is being asked to work like crazy on his keeping on Indian dustbowls. I am a big Saha fan and love watching keepers with good technique but Pant is really the future. Even if we have go beyond Pant, we need to give him a fair run. We should have given him a longer rope.

Tests are Pant's best format and he has scored centuries in England and Australia, something which messiah Dhoni has never come close to.

He is also an excellent keeper on the quicks with his reflexes.

As I said earlier, Kohli/Dhoni/Shastri have so much power over Indian cricket and know the need to destroy a 21 year old's career.

I don't see Shubman Gill breaking into the Indian xi as a starter until Kohli loses power.

[Sin Hombre]

Since Saha played his last Test in January 2018, world wicket-keeper (min. 2 Tests) averages:

Pant: 44.3
Foakes: 41.5
Mushfiqur: 41.2
Watling: 41.2
Dowrich: 39.8
de Kock: 33.4
Zazai: 32
Paine: 27.4
Dickwella: 27.3
Bairstow: 25
Sarfaraz: 24.9

All of Pant's tests were in testing batting conditions.


Last 12 months
Rishabh Pant has scored just 10 Test runs lesser than Virat Kohli and batted 1 innings lesser than him @ Average 53.81.

[prasen9]

Pant is a trier but he has also dropped catches and let go many byes. A better test may be to look at the number of byes the keepers have let through and see where Pant ranks in that regard. Even if things were not catches, he has fluffed things off the bowling of Jadeja where it hit his pad and so on. Are there other metrics for keeping? Catches/matches is dependent upon the bowling, the opponent's batting and the pitch. So, I think the number of byes (also admittedly determined by the pitch) is a better measure? Other keeping metrics?

Clearly, India does not see Pant as an inferior bat to Saha. Their point really is that Ashwin and Jadeja need Saha behind the wickets. I would sacrifice a few wickets for the sake of giving Pant the experience and then see if he improves.

[Sin Hombre]

I am pretty sure I have seen stats than Dhoni has dropped more off quicks than Pant has. This Pant being a poor keeper is overblown.

We have never played Saha ahead of Dhoni for his keeping.

[prasen9]

Dhoni's stumpings against spinners were actually pretty good and he was a safe keeper against spinners. Pant is more of a clang (Gilchrist) against the spinners. Is it overblown? Maybe.

The question is whether Pant's batting numbers will sustain. If it will, then we have to play him as a batsman. If we are doing horses for courses, Rahane has never played well at home. Keep him and Bhuvi for abroad and let us play Pant as a bat.

One can make all sorts of arguments. I think the team management thinks that Pant is off to a hot start with the bat and it will not be sustainable. Let us see. I have a hunch that Saha may drop one or two here and there because he has not played competitively in a long while. And, he is shaky with the bat anyway. Gritty but not the same class as Pant.

At the end, this decision will not matter. So, we should have played Pant.

At the very least, I hope someone has the common sense to release him and get him to play the domestics.

[Sin Hombre]

Complete patta with rain expected all 5 days.

We will drop points in the ICC test championship but Kohli will get what he wants with Rohit (and Mayank) making merry and cementing his place in the test xi for the foreseeable future ahead of "inconsistent" Shaw/Gill/Pant.

[PKBasu]

Strange session, with SA making 114/1, as our spinners proved largely inept. The strangest aspect was that Ishant was removed from the attack immediately after getting a wicket. Surely he should have bowled at least a couple of overs after that wicket in his third over of the morning. And Shami bowled just a couple before he was replaced too.