India in South Africa, 2021-22

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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by Atithee »

:Offtopic:
On Gupte’s unceremonious exit from Indian cricket.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/drop ... ink-397040
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

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Wow, that hurts. I had never heard this story before.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by prasen9 »

Yes. Maybe some kind moderator should move these to a cricket history thread or something like that?
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by prasen9 »

Quinton de Kock has retired from tests. Instead of taking ad hoc decisions, if RSA wants to produce the best possible product, they need to sit down with players and figure out a solution. They have lost players to Kolpak --- not much could be done at that. But, in this case, the administrators and players can sit down and try to figure out how they can enable the players to earn whatever they want to earn, get enough rest, and still the best possible (wrt continuity, fairness to everyone, fitness, team chemistry, etc.) team can be put on the ground. Stupid ad hoc decisions will result in this type of hotchpotch. SA is lucky that they have a fabulous bat in Varryenne but this is not going to be the case for everything. And, btw, why on earth is Sipalma not even in the full team (19-20 members?).
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by Kumar »

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/ ... 06549.html

.

The team management will likely stick to their five-bowler strategy and Ashwin might be on the bench if India includes Umesh Yadav in an all-pace attack at Wanderers.


Ravichandran Ashwin: Kohli likes to stick with his five-bowler template. In the first Test, Ashwin only bagged two wickets while the pace quartet fired at the other end. India have been docked one point from their World Test Championship (WTC) points tally for maintaining a slow over-rate in Centurion. India have also been fined 20 per cent of their match fee and the team management will not tinker with the bowling combination due to strict penalties.
Quality of writing in cricket is sometimes unbelievable. This article says that Ashwin may just find his place secure by default to keep india’s over rate reasonable, though the same article says Umesh could come in for Ashwin in an all pace attack. What a joke.

I would not mind bringing in Umesh for Shardul and may be Vihari for Ashwin (unless Kohli is ready to trust Ashwin to bowl with newer ball where he may be most effective) or as Prasen pointed out, make Ashwin face some bouncers at the nets.
Rishabh Pant: This is a no-brainer. Rishabh Pant scored 34 in the previous Test but failed to convert it into a big score. But there's a method to his madness and Pant can come up with knocks in crunch situations. He is also four catches away from becoming the fourth Indian to take 100 catches as a wicketkeeper in a Test match, joining the likes of Dhoni (256), Syed Kirmani (160) and Kiran More (110)
Very striking numbers. Would not expect Pant to be just 4 catches from 100 or that Kirmani has taken only 160 catches in long distinguished career. Just goes on to show the quality of pace bowlers that pAnt has kept to that Prasen had boguht up earlier. And we have just 3 keepers in 100 catch club?
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by PKBasu »

I don't want to belabor the point about Ashwin. Yes, he DID have a poor record in SENA countries in the past, but he has changed that dramatically in the past year. In Australia, he was the top wicket-taker in both innings in Adelaide, and was one of the key bowlers in the MCG win. In the WTC final, Ashwin was the best bowler for India in both innings (on a non-spin-friendly pitch at Southampton). He was indeed able to get very little purchase in the first innings in Centurion, but he finished off the match in the second innings with 2/18 (and match figures of 2/55), so he did his job. At Wanderers, he didn't play the last time, but he should get at least a bit more purchase than in Centurion (especially if the match lasts past 3 days). So he should play, and likely will.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by Kumar »

PKBasu wrote: Sun Jan 02, 2022 7:18 pm I don't want to belabor the point about Ashwin. Yes, he DID have a poor record in SENA countries in the past, but he has changed that dramatically in the past year. In Australia, he was the top wicket-taker in both innings in Adelaide, and was one of the key bowlers in the MCG win. In the WTC final, Ashwin was the best bowler for India in both innings (on a non-spin-friendly pitch at Southampton). He was indeed able to get very little purchase in the first innings in Centurion, but he finished off the match in the second innings with 2/18 (and match figures of 2/55), so he did his job. At Wanderers, he didn't play the last time, but he should get at least a bit more purchase than in Centurion (especially if the match lasts past 3 days). So he should play, and likely will.
I am a huge fan of Ashwin and probably biased extremely in his favor. I love his attitude. He has shown tremendous grit and has achieved success in the past year. Would be really happy if he is selected and does well.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by Atithee »

Kohli not playing the second test. He is having an upper back spasm. KL Rahul is the captain. Vihari comes in and no other change.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by rajitghosh »

They should have played Iyer
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by rajitghosh »

Pujara and Rahane show their true colours
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by prasen9 »

Two of our tailenders are gone for cheap. Four more remain at the end. What a crappy batting lineup. Bowlers have to play out of their skin again. Gade averages about 32 in 13 tests. He scored 20 odd here. Pujara has averaged 27 in the last year and perhaps the same in the last 3 years. Rahane is averaging less than 20 in the last year and similarly in the last 2-3 years. How long more will they be continued with? Does Rahul D. or someone else not have the strength to tell Kohli that his pals need to stay out? Bring in Iyer and Vihari. Let them get their chances. That way we will know if they can cut it. It has been abundantly clear that C & R do not have it. Dropping them will also force them to address their issues just as dropping KL Rahul did.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by ssp »

200 could be a decent score, but a lot depends on Rahul.

170 looks tough with Rahul gone. Ashwin looks like getting out soon too.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by prasen9 »

I do not know if any score below 320-ish would be good here. Our bowlers could keep attacking because they had runs on the board. We will see how they do without runs on the board now. I think we will get to 200 but not much more. Hope I am wrong. I do not mind Ashwin playing the way he is playing. He will not last if he tries just to stay at the wickets. Get the runs. Pant started off fast and then he has gone into a total shell. He should try to at least hit some of the balls that are not that good and in his hitting spot.

Seems like Iyer and Kohli both were unfit. I would have introduced Panchal in and played Mayank at #3 instead of Pujara.
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by ssp »

Both Pant and Thakur gone.
200 looks unlikely. Some terrible shots. Ashwin doesn't look too secure.
Rain could be our best route to avoiding defeat
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Re: India in South Africa, 2021-22

Post by PKBasu »

Excellent knock by Ashwin enables India to finish on 202.
The pitch has variable bounce on the first day, so batting is a bit of a lottery (unless you have Sunny Gavaskar-like technique). All 3 wickets that Olivier got were caught around gully or point off balls that stood up more than expected. Of course the batsmen could have just left those balls alone (they were well outside off and swinging slightly away).
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