India's strategy has been win the toss & bat first, which shows that theres a rigidity and that they do not want to think much after winning the toss.
Theres a thin line between being brave and foolhardy, kumble's decision to bat first certainly shows the latter quality. Kumble's strategic brain couldnt work it out this time.
Im not saying this in the hindsight to what happened, but because the curator had clearly mentioned that the pitch will favour the pacers for the first 2 days before being good for batting on day 3/4 and then break down to favour the spinners by the last day.
Having said that, nobody would have expected the batting line-up to fold for 76!! which is pathetic to say the least.
Where was kirsten with all his expertise on pacy tracks??
RE:Rigid & Foolhardy
by Farhad Hotelwala on Apr 04, 2008 08:19 AM
"The curator mentioned that the ptch will favour the pacers for the first two days". Kumble remembered this after he won tha toss and said "We will bat". Now the error has been already made, so what to do? He told the team to get out as early as possible so that we can also take the advantage of seaming conditions. But alas.....
Naach na jaane aangan tedha! This is the same team that loudly proclaimed its own supremacy in Australia. I suppose that the wickets there were not spin friendly.
Indian are still suspect against pace on pace assisting wickets. Our batsman like Dravid, Ganguli, Jaffar, Laxman and to an extent Sachin have become reflexively slow. So we collapse against pace at times. We need to put couple of young batters for such games. Dhoni is a confirmed failure on pacy wickets. Parthiv or Kartik would do better in such games. The only chance doing better in second innings is Sehwag and Jaffer seeing the first spell form three pace bowlers off. Any way we are heading for defeat for sure.
RE:RE:Genune pace
by Stupid BC on Apr 04, 2008 05:29 AM
I disagree. While a number of Indian batsmen are better suited to slower paced pitches most are competent on faster wickets as was shown in Australia. There was a distinct lack of application yesterday when the wicket was doing plenty. India seems to have satisfied with the efforts in Australia and is going to spend the near future dining out on that.
If India really want to be the best side in the world they must be able to close the gap between their best and worst performances. Sure Australia get beaten but they rarely get blown off the park - whoever beats them has had to work hard. India for mine has more talent than Australia now - just needs more application.
RE:Genune pace
by Crick fan on Apr 04, 2008 07:35 AM
At the end one with better application and better urge wins and get better figures in terms of wickets and runs. What you feel about Dhoni's batting on fast tracks??
RE:Genune pace
by CricFan01 on Apr 04, 2008 07:52 AM
Indian batsmen can play on fast pitches as long as the ball does not swing much and it is not too bouncy. Flawed technique or lack of application or determination and very good bowling by SA who bowled to a plan. Dhoni played a terrible shot but you cant expect much from him as he has no technique to surive against moving ball. He is over hyped and should be dropped in favor of Karthik who is much better in tests. Let Dhoni play ODIs and tamasha cricket called T20.
South Africa will lose one early wicket tomorrow and become 230 for 5 say... After that you can expect one good partnership of 60 between Boucher and one of the remaining batsmen and they will get to about 350 at most..
Lead for SA - 275...
Now, India will bat very well in 2nd innings and expect Dravid to score a big hundred...VVS and Sourav will contribute decently, also MSD...and India will pile up 450 plus...
Leaving SA 175 for a win...Sa will get bowled out for 130 against Bhaji and Kumbel...
RE:How this test match may pan out as i see it!!
by Mac on Apr 04, 2008 03:19 AM
No Chance, Do U think South Africna are Fools To throw Away their Wickets.
Remember they Have Kallis, Divillier's and Boucher to Come, They will Take a Lead of Min 350 Runs, The Lead Can Extend to 450 Also.
India will Be Bowled Out Under 200.
South Africa will Win By Innings and 150 runs or Innings and 250 Runs.That is For Sure.Indian Team Doent Have the Pace Bowling Attack, I Hope SreeSanth and RP Singh Pick Early Wickts.It will Be Foolish to Expect Irfan Pathan to Pick Up Wickets, Coz He Does Not Have Pace.Kumble and HarBhajan Singh Should Bowl the Maximum Overs.Opening Spell of SreeSanth and RP Singh is Crucial.
RE:How this test match may pan out as i see it!!
by Dharmendra Singh on Apr 04, 2008 04:18 AM
India will loose on the 3rd day by an innings and 50 runs!!!
It is high time Dhoni needs to perform in tests. He failed in Australia.We can have Dinesh Karthik, if Dinesh is there , there will be added option of playing Yuvaraj or another middle order batsman since Dinesh can open the innings. Imagine if Sachin , Dravid or Saurav have failed in last 5 tests, everyone would have started about retirement, senior or no senior , everyone needs to perform.
RE:Dhoni
by Crick fan on Apr 04, 2008 07:38 AM
Flat and slow track, Dhoni will do anything right from dropping anchor to betting bowling to submission. But pacy wickets , he doesnt like and walks quickly.
just dont run away from the crease at the earliest possibility. rather run away from the striking position to the non-striking position by taking quick singles so as to avoid facing the bolr. this way they vl run away from the fiery pace of the bolr and also get one single run to his individual and team score. subsequently even the non-striker who laments of getting the strike, shud force his partner to get the strike, by taking another single at the earliest opportunity. so that way, they vl run away from bolr n at the same time, they vl keep the scoreboard moving.
earlier kumble went in public n said in favour of sporting wkt. n the wkt at the ground was beautiful and sporting and the best in the recent times.
only thing, privately in the background kumble was angry with curator for making such wkt. if he was sure of grass on the wkt, y he didnot ask sa to bat first after winning the toss. rubbish. what is the curator's fault, if ind team cant complete even 20 ovrs thats 1 and half hour of the morning session.
RE:RE:team think tank wrong. dont blame pitch
by Dharmendra Singh on Apr 04, 2008 04:26 AM
In a way its ice for indian cricket .. This Test & series loss win ensure all seniors are thrown out of the Test team too... I can see why Dhoni throws away his wicket in test matches as he is not the captain ..He sure is on a mission to eliminate all old legs out of the Test team as well & other youngsters are fully supporting him in this misssion.
Its high time cricket pitches are made conforming to a known standard. Otherwise doctoring pitches to the home teams strength is no different from cheating.
Just like in field hockey, the regular grass fields were changed to artificial grass to not give any advantage to any team.
I think sports should be played on a fair playing field, not on pitches which suit one team over other. This is just cheating.
