India in South Africa, January 2018

[Sin Hombre]

It is a mix of many things including some regionalism.

Selecting Dhawan over Rahul (and the general exclusion of the latter) as well as Rohit getting continued chances are a result of Mumbai/Delhi bias from Shastri/Kohli.

Pandya and Bumrah are both Kohli's pet projects. In general, I am not against those, Ganguly did the same with good effect. The issue more is giving Bumrah his test debut in SA and he hadn't even played any FC cricket in the last 12 months.

Rahane and Pujara are both victims of the silly aggression thing both Kohli and Shastri talk about all the time.

[ssp]

Very timely interruption due to rain. I suspect day 3 will be a wash out. That still leaves plenty of time for RSA to force a win.

[Sin Hombre]

Day 3 washed out, India needs at least half of day 4 or 5 washed out as well to have a chance at a draw.

[ssp]

Forecast suggests good weather for the next 2 days.

[PKBasu]

If cloudy conditions persist this morning, India will have ample opportunities to force a win.

[prasen9]

Pandya and Bumrah are both Kohli's pet projects. In general, I am not against those, Ganguly did the same with good effect. The issue more is giving Bumrah his test debut in SA and he hadn't even played any FC cricket in the last 12 months.

Rahane and Pujara are both victims of the silly aggression thing both Kohli and Shastri talk about all the time.

Pandya has done well with the bat in the chances he has got (even before this test). As you said, Bumrah needed to have played some FC games and gotten used to bowling with discipline long spells. His tricks and variations do not work in test matches --- at least not on its own --- because batsmen do not need to take him on aggressively.

Dropping Rahane is asinine. Someone should figure out what is the optimal SR for Pujara in test matches in such conditions. Kumble had asked Pujara to become a bit more positive. Brainless aggression is stupid. However, judicious shot selection and being a tad more aggressive so as to optimize the runs scored is not bad. In this test match, anyone who made significant contributions over 30 with the bat did so at a good SR. You just can't shut shop totally and hope to score big. Sooner or later, you will get a ball with your number on it. So, the best strategy may be good shot selection and trying to get some runs when the ball merits it.

Anyone can talk aggression. Talk is cheap. Meaningful aggression is done with the bat and the ball and not with the mouth especially when what lies above it is somewhat hollow.

[prasen9]

Assuming they will try to get in 100 overs per day to make up lost time, RSA should aim to bat 75 overs and score about 225 runs more. Then give India 125 overs with 25 overs at the end of the day to bat. Should be enough time to get this bunch out.

From India's perspective, the strategy should be to get RSA out as cheaply as possible and bat with good shot selection (and technique).

[rajitghosh]

Suddenly the match seems to have opened up. Plenty of possibilities if India can get rid of the tail quickly.

[sameerph]

Yes, excellent bowling by us today. 208 to win now which will not be a cakewalk but is better than chasing in excels of 300.

[ssp]

208 to win after a brilliant session from our bowlers.
I still fancy RSA as our batting is usually poor on pitches like these and against this quality of pace.

[rajitghosh]

India should innovate if they have to win this match. Send Pujara to open and protect Dhawan from the new ball. Send in Pandya as a pinch hitter. Maybe even send Bhuvi up the order to keep blocking for a long period and tire their bowlers. Remember with Steyn absent they are a bowler short and Maharaj should be easy meat for the Indian batsmen.

[Sin Hombre]

Both openers out cheaply, collapse in progress.

[rajitghosh]

If there was ever a time when Kohli needs to play the finishers role in a test match it is NOW

[Sin Hombre]

No captain's knock from Kohli, weak dismissal.

Extremely poor from both of Kohli's biased selections in Dhawan and Rohit.

[Prashant]

Can we please be done with Rohit Sharma now?