Cricket

[Karthik]

Someone needs to tell VK that he shouldn't put dhawan in slips. I know they both are friends, but why slip fielding when he RARELY catches anything in slips?

[Sunny]

Could/should have had SA out for 210/220, instead they’re going to get closer to 300. Still a decent effort by the bowlers today but Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Rabada are going to be a handful on this wicket.

[Karthik]

Irresponsible shots from the openers, BTW Rahane should have played. He is our best over seas batsman.

[Sunny]

Lazy and careless batting.

[Sunny]

Irresponsible shots from the openers, BTW Rahane should have played. He is our best over seas batsman.

Yes he’s very good against fast bowling too. Some might say this is a bit defensive but I wouldn’t have played Pandya. The batting lineup looks very weak with Pandya, Saha, Ashwin, Kumar, Shami and Bumrah at 6-11.

[Karthik]

Rahul in place of Dhawan, Rahane in place of Vijay. And what logic to leave out Ishant (played almost 80 tests) and experiment with Bumrah? In SA, Eng technique and temperament are really important.

[Trilobite]

Why is the tail so long? There should be regular batsmen for either Pandya or Bumrah. Couple of quicks wickets and we could be bundled out for ~120.

[hanumadu]

Kohli doesn't hedge his bets. Dhawan, Rohit, Bumrah. All three risky options.

I think Dhawan and Rohit should be given a very extended run on this foreign season and let them prove once and for all if they are capable of playing outside India or not. You can't have doubts about the ability of a player on seaming conditions for more than 4 years and be none the wiser for it. Their selection in the longer format is always a matter of discussion and it is time it is settled.

[V J]

https://www.sonyliv.com/custompage/SA_VS_IND_2018

[Sunny]

Bumrah hasn’t even played a first class match for over a year yet they’ve selected him for a test match. Bizarre logic.

[Peregrine]

New Zealand vs Pakistan, 1st ODI - Venue: Basin Reserve, Wellington

NZ 315/7 (50.0 Ovs)
PAK 166/6 (30.1 Ovs)

New Zealand won by 61 runs (DLS method)

Cheers

[Karthik]

We really shouldn't travel. BDs play better than us outside Asia.

[hanumadu]

I am thinking of a use case for Rohit Sharma's 'he can change the match in a session' batting in a test match. First off, test match pitches are diff from one day pitches. They invariably favour the bowler more than ODI pitches. It's not the same as batting in ODIs. And how many situations arise where the match is decided by a single explosive innings...outside India. Almost never. What will convince Kohli that Rohit Sharma is not a one day batsman?

The Karan Sharma selection too cost us the test match.

[Gus]

How many have prepared crow soup for making predictions on Pandya

[Peregrine]

South Africa vs India, 1st Test - Venue: Newlands

RSA : First Innings : 286

IND : 209-all out (73.4 Ovs) CRR: 2.84

India trail by 77 runs

Cheers

[crams]

Guys, did you see Kohli get out? The SAfricans seem to have done their home work. That fast short of goodlength deliver leaving him has done him in so many times. Its a glaring weaknless. He got out to that Paki also in a similar manner. aAnd its a worrying weakness that can be exploited on green tops.

No comparing greats, is there any such visible weakness that Steve Smith has? He is definitely not as attractive a batsman to watch as Kohli is when he gets going, but SS seems like a rock against any bowling attack. What about other greats?

And I know there was way too much useless hype and crap about his wedding, reception etc. But some fans taking it out on him on Twitter after just on failure is offensive. And they should leave Anushka out of it.

[Shakuni]

All that tfta talk and swag is only good if you perform well. Biggest disappointments for me were Kohli, Nohit and Shami. I really expected Shami to lead the attack, but he has been so wayward!
As for the selection, why Dhawan over KL, hainjee? Dhawan is as good a batsman in overseas tests as was Venkatapathy Raju while facing Ambrose.

[hanumadu]

Kohli has his mind set on attack. That is why Dhawan and Rohit. He himself starts to attack very early in his innings. Only a couple of consecutive failures will make him wait till he settle down. This is a pattern I observed repeatedly.

The attack approach may be worked well for SA or may be not because their batsmen got starts and got out without going on to make a big one. But they are used to those pitches. It is bread and butter for them. Our batsmen will never be able to match them stroke for stroke in SA.

The same Kohli was a success in SA last time because he was circumspect. He left anything even two inches wide of off stump. When we were down two wickets quickly, he should have been more careful. But some how, he seems to count on the lower middle order more than he should. Considering this is our first match in SA without much time to acclimatize, caution should have been the approach.

But I am hoping and expecting a come back in this match itself.

[Shakuni]

First session wiped out, now rain has to rescue us.

[Karthik]

Good opportunity to draw this match. We can work on team line up for the next match.

[crams]

I respectfully disagree with those saying Indian top order: Dhawan, Vijay, and Kohli got out to poor shot selection. Many times, it might look like that, but in effect, credit to the bowlers for inducing those shots. In Dhawan's case, it was a terrific full-length delivery from Steyn leaving Dhawan and bouncing. Dhawan did not know how to handle that delivery and so he just lashed out.

Ditto Vijay. Philander kept teasing him outside the off stump and moving away, and at some point Vijay was bound to fish, and he did. Vijay has this tendency to get too deep into a shell and he ends up trying to attack.

Kohli as I said above has this glaring weakness outside the off stump. That worries me.

I would bring in Rahane in place of Rohit Sharma for next test. On the bowling side, I will keep Ashwin, leave out Bumrah and bring in Ishant Sharma, and its a toss up between Mohmmed Shami and Umesh Yadav. Not sure I see a place for Jadeja just yet on these hard green tops, but maybe given that he generates more bounce, I would play him in place of Ashwin. Finally, I would give both Murli Vijay and Shikkar Dhawan more time to settle in. They are class players.

[crams]

Good opportunity to draw this match. We can work on team line up for the next match.

Indeed, but its still advantage SA. With 2 days to go, if SA can manage a lead of 300+ on day 4 and maybe a bit of day 5, that will give them ample time to have a go at the Indian batsman, absence of Steyn notwithstanding. Philander, Morkel, and Rabada are a handful on this wicket.

[Karthik]

The commentators kept saying days the pitch will be good for batting going forward, entire 3rd way washed off. So should be good for batting on day 5.

[KJo]

Good to see a low scoring Test match. I got sick of all those 600+ scores with all the 6s and 4s. Bowlers get the rough end these past years.

[hanumadu]

But I am hoping and expecting a come back in this match itself.

India set 208 to win. Hope the sun is beating hard and removes the moisture in the pitch during the lunch break.