[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Really feel for Kohli. Batted so well...deserved a century. If any one of the recognized batters stayed with him, he wouldn't have played the shot that he did and got out. Rahane has just one more innings to hold on to his place.
It's high time Vihari and Shreyas get a place in the team

Absolutely well said, Virat needed someone at the other end. His shotmaking today was just spot on. Wonderful innings and deserved a century for sure. Pujara got a decent start and was looking good but got out and Rahane got the best ball of the innings from Rabada. Pant played with some purpose at least but intuitively fell to a shot which he could have easily avoided.

It is in this context that I remember Saha when he helped Virat to get to his first century in Adelaide in 2014 against a rampaging Australian attack. He scored some 35 or 40 runs but played out some 100 balls along and helped Virat reach his century. Again, against Australia in Ranchi (century for Saha and Double for Pujara) or stitching a partnership (century for both probably) with Ashwin against West Indies in Antigua probably which helped India win the match.

Unfortunately, in this age of slam bang cricket, defensive batting is a lost art. I hope the bowlers do the magic and restrict South Africa. The pitch is little two paced I think and that should make the match interesting. Let’s see how the match pans out finally.

[avingodb]

Having 5 bowlers, a traditionally green top and overcast conditions, underconfident batting order and on top of that the decision to bat first must also be questioned! You can't always decide on the basis of fears of batting in the 4th innings.

[PPS]

Once again India are on the backfoot having been dismissed for a below average total on Day 1! Once again they're looking at their bowlers to bail them out! I feel team is badly missing Jadeja the batsman in this series. All eyes should be on the pitch from hereon.

Originally Posted by avingodb

Having 5 bowlers, a traditionally green top and overcast conditions, underconfident batting order and on top of that the decision to bat first must also be questioned! You can't always decide on the basis of fears of batting in the 4th innings.

Apparently in Cape Town you bat first! I too felt seeing the overcast English conditions & with bowling being our strength we should have bowled first.

[NPV]

We need the wickets of Peterson, Dussen and Temba in quick time otherwise this game is gone even if South Africa manage a 50 run lead.

[NPV]

Bumrah gets a fifer and South Africa folded on 209, giving us a 13 run lead.

I'm scared of India's (fragile) batting in the second innings - India's last and most crucial inning that will decide the match and the series!

[harry10]

Boom boom with his fifer..
Kohli overbowled him but they had no option.

Well deserved effort by bowlers again.

14 runs lead isn't ground breaking but from psychological point of view it's good.

Hopefully batters grow a spine and give a 270+ chase.

[AtheK]

Wow Rahane and Pujara Just wow.

Shame on You Dravid too!!! so spineless, such a stupid team selection, playing 9 vs 11, and head coach sitting and going along. Dumb and Stupid. We might have lost out on a chance to win a series in SA just because of absolutely ridiculous team selection.

[KPR]

Rahane deserve one more Arjuna Award this year and Dhyan chand Khel Ratna award for his performances.

[RoadTiger]

Insane - the way Pujara and Rahane (the test specialists that cant handle bounce & swing for long) have repeatedly failed - except for 2-3 acceptable knocks over the 5 match Australia series, 4 match Eng series and now 3 match SA series - that is a total of approx 24 innings.

There is really no middle order that India has had for a while. Combine that with a 5 bowler combination and a hit-and-a-miss type of wicketkeeper bat in Pant - its totally thanks to India's bowlers and the openers/ Kohli (when they fire that is) - that India have managed to perform creditably.

If this doesnt cause the Iyers, SKYs and Viharis of the world to be drafted into the playing XI, nothing ever will !!!

Dravid and Kohli - get a spine ! (never thought I'd be saying this to Dravid - my hero)

[AtheK]

Ashwin also needs to be relooked, do we really need a spinner now Overseas, we are definitely missing Jadeja, and if we have to play a spinner, Jadeja should always start ahead of Ashwin. This series has put that debate to an end. Mayank Agarwal also has been exposed overseas, and KL still needs to work hard, but should be persisted with.


Ideally overseas this is how the team should look like now


KL Rahul

Rohit

Gill

Kohli

Iyer/Vihari

Pant

Jadeja

Thakur

Shami

Bumrah

Ishant (Or let's find some one new)

[landcruiser123]

Same old, same old. I think we need new batsmen maybe making new mistakes or scoring big. It is time Pujara and Rahane are asked to prove themselves in County cricket/Ranji Trophy and score big runs to make a comeback.

We have Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill waiting to grab their spot.

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Shame on You Dravid too!!!

Isn't this too early to say this about someone like Dravid?

May be it was the captain's call to persist with Pujara & Rahane.
I would wait & see few series to comment on Dravid, the coach.
BTW, I am a fan of Dravid.

On the other note, looks like 'pep' talk is working with Pant, so far at least.
Have to see how long it lasts

[ABHI_1512]

Folks calling out Rahul Dravid is a shame really. It’s Rahul Dravid we are talking about, have some respect for the man before judging him so early in his national Team duty. He has worked wonders with the under-19 and A team, so let’s reserve some judgement for at least a year !

Also, if one thinks that players as senior like Pujara and Rahane can be dropped without the consent of the Captain, then one knows nothing about the workings of the Indian team at all. Now to the game, the ball which got Rahane should probably get any batsman in the finest of forms probably. It’s unfortunate that Rahane was just about getting back to little form and he got two brute deliveries in both the innings.

At one point, Pujara was dropped by the team of Shastri and Kohli for slow batting, imagine how one would love to see Pujara grinding it out in the middle. It is this inconsistency that I hope would improve under Dravid and test players get their importance that they deserve. Red ball cricket is the true test of a batsman and I hope someday Hanuma Vihari gets to cement his spot in the team sooner. Also, this constant decision to play five bowlers is a bummer and while it works somewhat sometimes, in challenging conditions you need an extra batsman for sure, specially when the middle order isn’t firing !!

[hemanth.anand]

50 Tests
85 innings
2659 runs
Avg 33.23
4 X 100s
16 X 50s

This is an acceptable Test batting record for a number 6 keeper-batter or a number 7 allrounder.
But if you are a number 5 Batting specialist, With such a record you have to go back to first-class and score some big runs and then come back.
This is the record of Rahane's last 50 test matches by the way.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by redCherry

Isn't this too early to say this about someone like Dravid?

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Folks calling out Rahul Dravid is a shame really. It’s Rahul Dravid we are talking about, have some respect for the man before judging him so early in his national Team duty. He has worked wonders with the under-19 and A team, so let’s reserve some judgement for at least a year !

Why not, just because he was a great, so was shastri, but no one bit an eyelid creating memes on him and what not, when he actually did wonders for the team. It might be too early to judge, yes, but at same time he was roped in to change this captain being the boss, seems that is not changing if it was indeed captain decision to play the two utterly out or form batsman.

And no matter how senior the two of them are Rahane has been absolute Garbage for a long long time now, the entire world can see it except the captain and also the new coach.

The words for coach might be stern from some of us, but then that is the pressure it brings being the coach of National team, I really hope he goes on to be one of the greatest coach India has had, and win few world cup too, but if he did give into the captain request, he needs to change that. BTW I am a huge fan of Dravid too.

Back to match, good to see Pant getting a 50, hopefully he can continue and get us to a decent score. Second session seems to be a good time to bat, with third being more difficult as per the pattern from last two days.