South Africa in India

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Ljp86

Ljp86

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South Africa in India

South Africa go to India after a very poor home series against England. They lost the one-day series and could only draw the test series after not making the most of their opporttunities in the first and third tests. They travel to India alittle uncertain of where they are at. India meanwhile had a good tour of Bangladesh. They lost the tri-series final to Sri Lanka after after a little hiccup early in the first test, they came home strongly to sweep Bangladesh 2-0 in the short test series.

The tour is surprisingly short, going for less than a month and consists of a tour game, two tests and three ODI's. Not really the sort of absorbing series we were all hoping for but it should be interesting nonetheless.

India have made a couple of changes to their line-up. Rahul Dravid is out after suffering a fractured cheekbone courtesy of a Shahadat Hossain bouncer in the match at Chittagong, S Badrinath takes his place in a 15-man squad which has only six specialist batsman. Fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun from Karnataka comes into the side, replacing the injured Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthik has been dropped after his awful shot selection and duck at Chittagong and has been replaced by Wriddhiman Saha who has played some cricket for India "A" and also the Under 19 side.

South Africa have a few changes of their own. Off-spinner and one-day vice-captain Johan Both has been picked for the two test series, as has Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Freidel de Wet and Makhaya Ntini missed out on places in the test squad despite playing against England in the home series.

Loots Bosman returns to the ODI side after his excellent performances at home against England in each of the Twenty20 matches. Herschelle Gibbs is back in the squad too, the first time has been in South African colours since last year's T20 World Cup. Hashim Amla, Ryan McLaren and Charl Langeveldt were all overlooked for the ODI squad even though all participated in series at home against England.

This series is made even more interesting by the fact that South African cricket has hit a massive bump in the road. Less than a week ago, Mickey Arthur quit his position as the country's head coach and Cricket South Africa sacked the entire selection panel only days later in a shock move. Whether this has had an effect on the players remains to be seen but time will tell.

This should be a mouthwatering contest, both sides are ranked one and two in test cricket, the number of tests may be short of everyone expectations but they are shaping to be an enthralling battle. Let's hope we can see some great cricket here.



Fixtures

Tue Feb 2 - Wed Feb 3: Indian Board President's XI v South Africans at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)

Sat Feb 6 - Wed Feb 10: 1st Test - India v South Africa
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)

Sun Feb 14 - Thu Feb 18: 2nd Test - India v South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata (04:00 GMT | 09:30 local)

Sun Feb 21 (D/N): 1st ODI - India v South Africa at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur (09:00 GMT | 14:30 local)

Wed Feb 24: 2nd ODI - India v South Africa at Green Park, Kanpur (03:30 GMT | 09:00 local)

Sat Feb 27 (D/N): 3rd ODI - India v South Africa at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad (09:00 GMT | 14:30 local)




Squads

India (First Test): *+MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, +Wriddhiman Saha

South Africa (Tests): *Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, +Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

South Africa (ODI's): *Graeme Smith, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, +Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe
 
Re: South Africa in India

Must say I disagree with the statement that it will be a absorbing series.

Basically the wickets will be flat as we all know and as always in India winning the toss and batting is nearly essential if you want to win the game. The wickets start flat so 400 is nearly assured making the team batting second have to resort to drawing the game.

Can't really see that South African lineup having much of an impact apart from Steyn, South Africa are not the best players of spin as we all know.

I predict a 1-0 Indian series win.
 
Re: South Africa in India

I am looking forward to this Series and I think this could be a pivotal series for both parties. South Africa is at a cross roads after all the changes ie. Mickey Arthur and the selection committee. I suspect that this tour will be a once off for the caretaker coach and his assistant, as a new coach will be appointed in the next 6 weeks.

India have injuries and ljp mentioned but the senior players like Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dhoni wll be the danger wickets. Not forgetting Gautam Gambhir and the young guns.

I agree to a degree with LtD about the wickets, if one watched any cricket in India in the last 6 months the wickets have been dusty and not lasting a full five days. This series I think will boil down to the effect of the SA quicks and Johan Botha and the bowling attack of India.

This also brings Gary Kirsten and Eric Simons in competition against players that they either coached and played with.
 
Re: South Africa in India

I think this will be quite interesting. Pretty much the only thing this current South African team hasn't done is go to India and win, so it will be good to see if they can do it. They certainly have a better chance than probably any team in the world at the moment.

India will obviously start strong favourites though.
 
Re: South Africa in India

LIONS then DAYLIGHT;387208 said:
Mate I have been watching, did you see some of the games between Sri Lanka and India?
Click to expand...

I did watch most of it .. why? Do you think I am clutching at straws, due the fact that the fast bowlers are whom holds the key for South Africa.Paul Harris might not feature and the batsman seemed to enjoy the Presidents Eleven Tour Match: Indian Board President's XI v South Africans at Nagpur, Feb 2-3, 2010 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com
 
Re: South Africa in India

Surprised at the absence of discussion on the first Test.

South Africa has really impressed, for my money. With both the openers out cheaply, the middle order really showed its mettle - Kallis in particular on the first day was the rock around which the innings was built (everyone should remember this next time he's accused of not playing innings of substance). He was out for an impressive 173, and Amla took up the baton to continue on to a mammoth 253 not out, helped along by a half century by de Villiers and a handy 39 by Boucher. They declared at 6/558.

The last couple of days have been brutal for India. In their first innings a stand between Sehwag (102) and Badrinath (58) was the only resistance offered - Gambhir with 12 was the only other batsman to reach double figures, and they were all out for 233.

Smith, showing the kind of mettle that makes me regard him as one of the better captains in world cricket, backed his bowlers and enforced the follow-on. It was an aggressive move, but looks to be one that's almost certainly won him the game. India are 5/200 in the second session on the fourth day, taking the crucial wicket of Tendulkar for 100 this morning.

Steyn and Morkel have been very impressive on a typically lifeless Nagpur deck, and have reinforced my opinion that they are the best new-ball partnership in Test cricket by a significant margin. There's a real possibility the Proteas could win this by an innings with a day to spare.
 
Re: South Africa in India

Clinical innings win by South Africa. Just what this series needed in order to keep it interesting - the home side going behind from the start, meaning that positive cricket will be required for the remainder of the series.

Looking forward to Sunday in Calcutta.
 
Re: South Africa in India

India missed the Wall and senior middle order batsman and Badrinath, Saba were called in last minute due to Sharmas freak accident. They lacked a bowler it was evident but I think most sides would have struggled against Dale Steyn. I reckon that was his best bowling spell in the last 18 months.

However Amla and Kallis's runs were the difference but even if the second test is played on a dusty wicket, the test match is going to be exciting. I just hope that Eden Gardens which is a massive construction zone has more spectators.

I must put it out there, this test match is why we love the longer format.
 
Re: South Africa in India

hattrick;387985 said:
I must put it out there, this test match is why we love the longer format.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. I'd expect India to play pretty hard, something they aren't used to at home. They usually grind and then defend a lead in a series. This will test them. This South African side is bloody solid too.
 
Re: South Africa in India

The disappointing thing is that the 2nd test match will be decided at the toss, the pitch will be a massive turner, as much as been admitted by the head curator himself.

Obviously the team winning the toss will bat first - and the game will be all but over then.

I hate cricket when it's like that, and it's shame that in the last 6 months we have had 6 cases of this.
 
Re: South Africa in India

Today in Kolkota can only be defined as an Indian fight back. The South Africans got off to a bad start with Zaheer cleaning up Smiths wickets. Then it became the Amla and Petersen show and it was very impressive performance by both men. Petersen was added due to Bouchers back injury. I suspect that Ashwell Prince might be on the way out as his and JP Duminys struggles continue with the scoreboard.

Harbhajan Singh bowled well and between him and Zaheer almost finished the South African innings on the first day. The Proteas will hope that Parnell can eek out another 30 runs. Then they will have to bowl the Indians out but that might be difficult as no reverse swing was seen on day one of the second test.
 
Re: South Africa in India

This is the weird result of two teams whose best is very, very good, and whose worst is awful.

I take it Boucher was injured for this match. Was it a last minute thing or did they have time to factor it into the chosen squad? Couldn't find reference to it anywhere on Cricinfo.

Once again the vice-captain's spot looks in grave danger once the 'keeper returns. "Saved by the bell" at series end!?!
 
Re: South Africa in India

Sober Symonds;388734 said:
This is the weird result of two teams whose best is very, very good, and whose worst is awful.

I take it Boucher was injured for this match. Was it a last minute thing or did they have time to factor it into the chosen squad? Couldn't find reference to it anywhere on Cricinfo.

Once again the vice-captain's spot looks in grave danger once the 'keeper returns. "Saved by the bell" at series end!?!
Click to expand...

Boucher was ruled out on the morning of the test with back spasms.

South Africa are copping a thrashing in this test, 0/6 needing another 342 runs to make India bat again.
 
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