The one big difference this Indian side would have to cope with compared to the earlier Indian touring side would be the expectations back home to not just them to compete as equals but also to win the series too! The pace bowling attack which is seen as best ever Indian attack together with the best spin combo evidently is the reason for the exalted expectations. A competitive good show preferably winning the 1st test will be job half done and for that chosing the right playing XI becomes very critical. To be on the safer side it looks the team will settle for an extra batsman which has to be Rohit going by his current form. Which leaves just four bowlers in which case 3 pacers and one spinner has to be the best balanced attack. My pick of spinner will be wicket taker Ashwin than container jadeja. Best Pacer combo will be Shami, Bhuvi and Ishant. Picking Bumrah for Tests is Ok but he can’t be played ahead of Umesh and will have to wait till he improves his consistency in line. Regarding Pandya I think he is not yet ready for Tests as he is neither a good bowler nor a consistent bat. The slip fielding and catching in the initial 10-15 overs will be critical. Earlier such chances were rare as pace bowling was not up to world standards. With improved pace attack as seen in SL series that 2-3 catches were put down in the 1st 10 overs. This could prove costly with a good side like SA.Regarding Dale D/Steyn who gets thrashed mostly by every Indian batter in IPL I do expec
Re: THE 1ST TEST SHOWING WOULD SET THE TREND
by damodaran mohan on Dec 27, 2017 03:42 PM
(contd.)..expect Virat & Rohit to hit him for couple of sixes with ease.
The one big difference this Indian side would have to cope with compared to the earlier Indian touring side would be the expectations back home to not just them to compete as equals but also to win the series too! The pace bowling attack which is seen as best ever Indian attack together with the best spin combo evidently is the reason for the exalted expectations. A competitive good show preferably winning the 1st test will be job half done and for that chosing the right playing XI becomes very critical. To be on the safer side it looks the team will settle for an extra batsman which has to be Rohit going by his current form. Which leaves just four bowlers in which case 3 pacers and one spinner has to be the best balanced attack. My pick of spinner will be wicket taker Ashwin than container jadeja. Best Pacer combo will be Shami, Bhuvi and Ishant. Picking Bumrah for Tests is Ok but he can’t be played ahead of Umesh and will have to wait till he improves his consistency in line. Regarding Pandya I think he is not yet ready for Tests as he is neither a good bowler nor a consistent bat. The slip fielding and catching in the initial 10-15 overs will be critical. Earlier such chances were rare as pace bowling was not up to world standards. With improved pace attack as seen in SL series that 2-3 catches were put down in the 1st 10 overs. This could prove costly with a good side like SA.Regarding Dale D/Steyn who gets thrashed mostly by every Indian batter in IPL I do expec
Re: THE 1ST TEST SHOWING WOULD SET THE TREND
by damodaran mohan on Dec 27, 2017 03:41 PM
(contd.)..expect Virat & Rohit to hit him for couple of sixes with ease.
The Kiwis and the Sri Lankans have already proved that Indians are not invincible lot. Shikhar and Rohit, both have suspect technic against real quickies. They have not played against real quickies on fast pitches in recent times . Even then Sri Lankans have asked Indian batsmen few serious questions. The Kiwis had given the Indians a hard run for money. Both the teams scored victories against India on more than one occasion on Indian soil where express deliveries come at ordinary pace. Therefore, it will be wrong to predict on the basis of T-20 and ODI match results, a landslide Indian victory in test matches against the South Africans on their home soil. Virat kohli's run of success on Indian soil against weaker teams gives no guarantee of his success in test matches against the likes of Morkels or Steyns on their favorite turfs. Except Pujara and to some extent the captain himself, I am not much optimistic about other batsmen. However, I am sure, Indian Bowlers will do much more than expectations. Md. Shami in particular will be eager to go at the SA batsmen. Bhuvaneshswar Kumar and Umesh Yadav are ready to challenge the SA batsmen. Wriddhiman Saha is expected to do well both behind and in front of the stumps.Batting looks really suspect. Ashwin / Jadeja may be good utilities. Ajinkya Rahane,Rohit Sharma are not big prospects. Murali Vijay might come up with some runs. In my opinion, the bowlers will decide matches, not just the batsmen.
Re: It will not be easy at all for India.
by Rajendra Uparkar on Dec 26, 2017 03:21 PM
Very well said! On Ajinkya Rahane, I can say that his performance in test matches in England, South Africa and Australia is quite satisfactory. In fact, he plays much better on fast overseas wickets rather than slow wickets in Indian sub-continent.
