South Africa in India, Sept-Oct 2019

[PKBasu]

Pant's 'keeping isn't yet upto the mark against the spinners. His test batting record, though, is spectacular. So the decision to pick Saha ahead of him was marginal, perhaps influenced by the fact that Saha has made a 50 in almost every innings he has played for India A -- and remains our best pure 'keeper. The choice of Rohit as opener in home conditions does reek of 2nd-rate politics, aimed at shoring up a 32 year old's test career after repeated failures outside India. That it has worked means that Gill's debut will be delayed, as will Shaw's return. That is bad in the long-run. I also wonder why Rohit stopped bowling: he was much more of a bowler than Vihari is!

[PKBasu]

One of the worst bowling performances in a home test for a long time. The folly of going in with 4 bowlers (and not even an allrounder as fifth bowler) is being horribly exposed, especially as the two pacers are being treated as part-timers.

[PKBasu]

Ashwin salvaged something by the end of the day, so India are still marginally ahead. But the two final wickets need to be claimed quickly tomorrow if there is to be a result in this match. India's middle-order batsmen will need to hunker down and bat much better than they did the first time around.

[prasen9]

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.

It was blazingly hot (feels like 38 degrees) and about 85% humid. The players were sweating buckets. So, Ishant was told to bowl a 4/5 over spell and taken off. Problem was Jadeja was bowling too fast and Saha dropped one off him. I was disappointed with Jadeja's bowling. He needs to slow things down from time to time to develop some variety. If it is a flat-ish wicket, then we should play Kuldeep. On turners, let Jadeja dart it in and the pitch will do the spinning.

Awful pitch. They should have left some grass. That way the first two days would have been more of an even contest and then the grass would dry and cause spin/bounce. Still hoping our players pull this one out.

[Sin Hombre]

Everyone including Saha drops catches off spinners. Dhoni drops a lot off quicks and concedes a lot of byes.

A draw at home against the worst SA team in 3 decades would not be so bad if it led to ousting of Kohli/Dhoni/Shastri cabal but we know the Indian media sets very low bars for our "superstars".

[PKBasu]

A first innings lead of 71 is a very poor show at home on a helpful pitch. Jadeja was a disappointment, as was the whole bowling unit apart from Ashwin. Jadeja should be the all-rounder for home matches, and we need to pick 4 specialist bowlers. If that means dropping Rahane or Vihari, so be it. I would play Kuldeep and consider replacing Shami with Bhuvi to strengthen the batting.

[PKBasu]

I'd be delighted if he proves me wrong, but Pujara seems to be fading as a test batsman. 2, 25, 6, 27, 6 in his last 5 test innings -- against pretty mediocre attacks in the West Indies and at home against SA. And now he has struggled to make 8 off 61 balls, and has already received one life (from Markram, plus another very difficult chance to the 'keeper).

[PKBasu]

And he DOES prove me wrong!! 25 off the next 24 balls from Pujara, with some glorious square cuts and drives on both sides of the wicket.

[PKBasu]

Excellent by the batsmen in making a match of it. India batted at close to 5 runs an over in the second innings, and over 8 runs an over in the last 20 overs or so. Kohli set a reasonable (but stiff) target of 395 to win in 111 overs (although I think it's likelier to be about 101 overs).

[PKBasu]

A maximum of 98 overs possible tomorrow. So the revised target is 395 in 107 overs, or 384 (with 9 wickets in hand) off 98 overs. Tough ask for SA. But India need early wickets on the final morning. I would start with the pacers, to exploit the uneven bounce on the fifth morning.

[PKBasu]

That was one helluva day of test cricket. 380 runs scored during the day for the loss of 7 wickets in 89 overs. Rohit Sharma picked up the record for the most sixes in a test match along the way. Even Pujara hit two sixes (almost identical ones over the deep mid wicket boundary). Jadeja hammered a quick-fire 40 off 32 balls with 3 sixes.

[PKBasu]

Given the legacy of apartheid, this South Africa XI has 5 whites (Du Plessis, de Kock, Markram, Elgar, de Bruyn -- so one of English descent, Markram unclear, and 3 Afrikaans), 2 Coloureds (Philander and Piedt), 2 Indians (Maharaj and Muthusamy), and 2 black Africans (Rabada, Bavuma). Quite the rainbow nation, albeit with the whites still dominant.

[sameerph]

Thanks, PKB for that tidbit. What is the difference between Coloureds like Philander and black Africans like Rabada ?

[prasen9]

We have been playing with one bowler for four days. Jadeja has been very useful as a batsman in getting quick runs. But, we need another bowler to stand up and run through the RSA batting.

[Prashant]

Thanks, PKB for that tidbit. What is the difference between Coloureds like Philander and black Africans like Rabada ?

"Coloured" is S. African for mixed race. It is generally considered a pejorative / racist term in the US and most other English speaking parts of the world, and we probably shouldn't countenance it here.