South Africa vs India | 1st Test | Cape Town | Jan 5-9, 2018 | Day 2 | Discussion Thread

[Junaids]

What possessed India to select Bumrah and Pandya as third and fourth seamers in South Africa?

Don’t they have any proper quick bowlers? These bowlers are Faheem Ashraf quality!

[dauntless]

Great going guys!! More humiliation on it's way!!

[shah_1]

What possessed India to select Bumrah and Pandya as third and fourth seamers in South Africa?

Don’t they have any proper quick bowlers? These bowlers are Faheem Ashraf quality!

Pandya is best batsman of India in the first innings so his selection is justified.

[ego-gambit]

Great going guys!! More humiliation on it's way!!

On 9th Jan as well

[King Kong]

What possessed India to select Bumrah and Panda as third and fourth seamers in South Africa?

Don’t they have any proper quick bowlers? These bowlers are Faheem Ashraf quality!

Pandya is allrounder. Coming to Bumrah, it was a bit of a gamble. He had bowled better in the net sessions as per Kohli at the toss.

[battler]

South Africa pummeling Indian bowlers here.
Pitch might be slightly flattening out and Indian bowlers seem a bit tired as well.

[7sins]

On 9th Jan as well

True but in the end india will get humiliated almost in every test this year becauseyou know what most of them are overseas

[battler]

Here we go.. Easy runs..

You were saying..

[battler]

Need one more wicket before close of play.

[CricketAnalyst]

South Africa pummeling Indian bowlers here.
Pitch might be slightly flattening out and Indian bowlers seem a bit tired as well.

If the pitch becomes easier it will be good for India. They will have a proper chance if the batsmen don't throw away their wickets second time round.

[7sins]

Need one more wicket before close of play.

One more wicket will not change anything india cant chase 300 here on day 3 4 pitch

[King Kong]

If the pitch becomes easier it will be good for India. They will have a proper chance if the batsmen don't throw away their wickets second time round.

It's all about pressure.

[King Kong]

Two for Pandya. He's a superstar.

[CricketAnalyst]

It's all about pressure.

I agree. Our batters are mentally strong though. As long as the conditions aren't beyond their technical competence they will bat well. What they won't do is crumble on a flat pitch simply because of the weight of runs. Even in Australia, we tried to chase a mammoth target and almost had it.

Our batsmen aren't perfect, but nobody will question their ability to score big in good conditions.

[King Kong]

Get Amla before close of play and it will be India's day.

[CricketAnalyst]

One more wicket will not change anything india cant chase 300 here on day 3 4 pitch

Seems a lot easier than the Day 1 pitch to be very honest.

I like our chances if our batters don't do stupid things.

[MenInG]

And Pandya strikes again! This time he takes out Elgar for 25 and suddenly pressure seems to be on South Africa as they slump to 59/2, with lead standing at 136 runs #SAvInd #Cricket

[7sins]

On this pitch the frist 25 30 overs are crucial if you dont lose many wickets latter it will become easier to bat on same thing happened with south africa and india first innings

[battler]

Pandya has single handedly taken on SA here.
Whether we win or lose this effort would be remembered for some time.

[King Kong]

I agree. Our batters are mentally strong though. As long as the conditions aren't beyond their technical competence they will bat well. What they won't do is crumble on a flat pitch simply because of the weight of runs. Even in Australia, we tried to chase a mammoth target and almost had it.

Our batsmen aren't perfect, but nobody will question their ability to score big in good conditions.

It's Kohli or nothing when it comes to chasing a big total. We were close to winning two matches chasing big score in Adelaide and Wellington(?). In both instances, we were actually cruising till Kohli got out. Pressure of a big chase is always there even if you are ahead halfway through.

[Sachin136]

What possessed India to select Bumrah and Panda as third and fourth seamers in South Africa?

Don’t they have any proper quick bowlers? These bowlers are Faheem Ashraf quality!

They can bring as many Faheem Ashrafs as they want as long as they get wickets.

[Sam99]

Shami looks good even beats batsman and gets some edges as well but he don't get wicket and he never gets 5 fer.

[7sins]

They can bring as many Faheem Ashrafs as they want as long as they get wickets.

True in the end wicket counts

[ego-gambit]

True but in the end india will get humiliated almost in every test this year becauseyou know what most of them are overseas

It is better to play matches than wasting 2018 like PCB did

[7sins]

It is better to play matches than wasting 2018 like PCB did

2018 is just started i guess you cant control your emotions while typing

[CricketAnalyst]

What possessed India to select Bumrah and Panda as third and fourth seamers in South Africa?

Don’t they have any proper quick bowlers? These bowlers are Faheem Ashraf quality!

Pandya is a batting all-rounder.

[austerlitz]

We need pace of yadav or bounce of ishant,bumrah making no dent.

[Napa]

We need pace of yadav or bounce of ishant,bumrah making no dent.

Next Test bring in Rahul, Rahane and Yadav for Dhawan, Rohit and Bumrah.

[Ab Fan]

SA would feel add 150 more runs and this is their game.

[Sam99]

We need pace of yadav or bounce of ishant,bumrah making no dent.

Yadav has no consistency and ishant has played so many tests before as well and he does nothing special.

[Varun]

Well, we're going to lose.

But if our batsmen can stand up in the final innings and score some handy runs each, it'll set the stall for them performing in the rest of the series.

There were as many as 2-warm up games scheduled for this tour but trust the tossers at the BCCI to cull them to play a wonderful test match vs the teardrop island of boredom - Lanka.

[hadi123]

AB DE VILLIERS seized the moment on day one of the first Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands when he carved Bhuvneshwar Kumar for four boundaries in his fifth over at a stage when the seamer was threatening to run through the Standard Bank Proteas top-order.



On day two it was the turn of Hardik Pandya to do something similar when he launched a brilliant counter-attack starting with the three boundaries he took from an over from Vernon Philander whom most of his batting colleagues had found almost unplayable.



Before that calculated assault Philander had taken 2/6 in the 10 overs he had sent down on the day and with India crumbling to 92/7 the Proteas must have been anticipating a first innings lead of at least 150.



But Pandya brought some much needed aggression to India’s batting and seemed certain to score his second Test century once again with a strike rate in excess of 100 percent. He found a willing partner in Kumar who hung around during a 99-run partnership for the eighth wicket and eventually Pandya fell to the well deserving Kagiso Rabada for 93 (95 balls, 14 fours and a six).



It was the classic No. 6 all-rounder’s innings that one might expect from Kapil Dev or Ian Botham and whatever India get out of this match they will surely acknowledge the need to bat their all-rounder at No. 6.



He is no stranger to this counter-attacking role. In his debut Test series in Sri Lanka he came in at No. 8 and went on to make both his maiden Test century (108 off 96 balls). This included a 66-run partnership for the last wicket with Umesh Yadav whose contribution was just three runs.



He was on hand to seize the moment once again when the Proteas batted again, claiming the wickets of both opening batsmen at a stage when the match was starting to run away from them very rapidly. Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar were able to share their 2nd 50 partnership to go with their 2 century partnerships in the six innings they have had together at the top of the order.



The Proteas held an overwhelmingly strong position at the close of play, having converted the first innings lead of 77 into an overall lead of 142 with 8 wickets still in hand.



They lost the bowling services of Dale Steyn with an apparent heel injury just before the tea interval in the only real setback but they will take a lot of heart from the pace and aggression with which Rabada bowled throughout the Indian innings and they still have four specialist bowlers at their disposal.

[dauntless]

LOL I don't believe that Indians still thinking they can win the match.India ain't winning any match.
#no mercy
#decimation

[Rightarmfast]

They are two different things not comparing them. It was a great knock. Here we are talking about completely different situation. This was a nothing to lose like situation for him. You know the game is already done and not much can you do about it while in other case it could be anyone's game(the one who handles pressure better and ofcourse the demand of situation could be different from his style of play too at that time.)

Now I am not judging him because he is too early in his career but in a long career he will face different kinds of situation and will be tested several times. That's the only point. Not being harsh or over demanding on the lad.

<B>The only point there was it will be interesting to see how or whether he will adjust his game plan when he will be required to change his aggressive style of play and play attritional cricket to save a match.</B> It wasn't about scoring against quality attack or not. It was a top notch attack itself what else one would want.

Its funny how much bias can be there. Btw, Pandya is batting at 6, and if he fails defending a score, that wouldnt make him any inferior. As if any top order pakistani batsman could play half as good as how Pandya played today!

[Justcrazy]

India have controlled the damage to certain extent with two wickets.

[Justcrazy]

Its funny how much bias can be there. Btw, Pandya is batting at 6, and if he fails defending a score, that wouldnt make him any inferior. As if any top order pakistani batsman could play half as good as how Pandya played today!

Pandaya is positive stroke player.

There will be always be days when he comes good. He is worth playing at number six.

[austerlitz]

LOL I don't believe that Indians still thinking they can win the match.India ain't winning any match.
#no mercy
#decimation

Why are you trolling needlessly under false flag ?A proteas fan who types hindi... right.
And on the point yes,we still can ..its difficult but certainly not impossible.

[7sins]

Next Test bring in Rahul, Rahane and Yadav for Dhawan, Rohit and Bumrah.

Ravi shastri loves rohit sharma whenever he becomes india coach he brings back rohit in test squad

[Ab Fan]

Its funny how much bias can be there. Btw, Pandya is batting at 6, and if he fails defending a score, that wouldnt make him any inferior. As if any top order pakistani batsman could play half as good as how Pandya played today!

I cant help if you cant understand a post and find bias in pretty normal posts.

As for Pakistani batters, why would I care if they can play as good or not.

[austerlitz]

We can win as long as target is not above 300.If its above 350 game over.

[battler]

If the pitch becomes easier it will be good for India. They will have a proper chance if the batsmen don't throw away their wickets second time round.

What's the injury status with steyn? South Africa might be slightly psychologically dented if he doesn't bowl in the second innings.

[Ab Fan]

Pandya has proved that he should be the one batting at no.6 ahead of Ashwin. India should play their best five batsmen according to given conditions from next test.

[Napa]

We can win as long as target is not above 300.If its above 350 game over.

I want SA to set a target of 450 and India to win. There is enough time

[dauntless]

Why are you trolling needlessly under false flag ?A proteas fan who types hindi... right.
And on the point yes,we still can ..its difficult but certainly not impossible.

I m not trolling! I have always supported south Africa and pakistan.By the I m from Jammu(address chahiye toh send kar dunga).I m protea fan and I will always support them.India's humiliation does make me happy

[Big Mac]

Pandya got gifted a couple of wickets but he looks like he could be a useful fourth seamer a la Ben Stokes. Probably won't take a lot of wickets consistently but he's good enough to allow the team to be flexible in terms of selection for the playing XI.

[Madplayer]

They can bring as many Faheem Ashrafs as they want as long as they get wickets.

What an insult to Faheem who is a superior bowler to Pandya in potential. Infact Faheem started as a bowler alone first.

[battler]

News coming in that steyn has suffered tissue damage on his left heel. Won't be bowling in the next innings and could be out of action for 4-6 weeks. Hope he recovers soon.

[USofA]

I do feel for Steyn. After a year+ layoff, only able to bowl 15 overs before going down again.

I cannot help but think if this is the end. He is approaching 35, so things will only get harder for a fast bowler.

[Big Mac]

News coming in that steyn has suffered tissue damage on his left heel. Won't be bowling in the next innings and could be out of action for 4-6 weeks. Hope he recovers soon.

Bit of pressure on the Saffers to get a decent target now but Morkel, Philander, Rabada is probably still enough to bowl out India in the 4th innings

[CricketAnalyst]

What's the injury status with steyn? South Africa might be slightly psychologically dented if he doesn't bowl in the second innings.

Went for a scan on a bruised heel.

It doesn't sound like an injury that will heal fast or which a bowler can be very effective in fighting through.

[CricketAnalyst]

Bit of pressure on the Saffers to get a decent target now but Morkel, Philander, Rabada is probably still enough to bowl out India in the 4th innings

A lot of the Indian wickets were terrible shots. I'm not sure it will be easy if the Indians don't play stupid shots (or refuse to play any at all like Rohit).

[dhonixi]

You talk lot about players potential even though at this point performance is not much to talk about. I guess you didnt learn about your umar akmal potential theory

[Justcrazy]

Styen is probably towards the end of his career . Do not think he can recover from this injury. SA have to move on.

[Syed1]

SA need to get to 250 to ensure victory.

India need to make sure they are not chasing more than 250 (which means they need to dismiss SA by 180 odd)

[Test champion]

SA need to get to 250 to ensure victory.

India need to make sure they are not chasing more than 250 (which means they need to dismiss SA by 180 odd)

Fair enough.if the target is around of 280-300 it's game on! Although southafrica have more chance but just news coming that styen out of this test due to injury could help indian team.

[blue_champion]

South Africa don’t choke in test cricket at all...in fact it is the opposite,they bring their A level temperament in tests...our best bet is to one of our bowler hitting a purple patch like Sreeshanth did in the 2 tests we won here.

[Snak3eye5]

India going to loose this one unless they pull of a miracle. Always saw it impossible for them to take on Sa in Sa. Just stating the obvious...

[ego-gambit]

2018 is just started i guess you cant control your emotions while typing

Test Matches against Ireland & Scotland will be the real test for Pakistan in 2018 after home thrashing by SL

[Moh@n]

Next Test bring in Rahul, Rahane and Yadav for Dhawan, Rohit and Bumrah.

And Parthiv for Saha as well if it was upto me. And Jadeja too if fit over Ashwin.

[PakLFC]

C'mmon Saffers I am with you all the way! Hammer the Bharatis as hard as possible! Even Gandhi got his you know what handed back to him in South Africa! 300 plus run lead should be sufficient to win the first Test.

[Nitya85]

Haha
So ja bhai..don't worry about india
Care for your team

[EliteCynical]

As someone told me aptly, the tennis equivalent would be that India after two hard fought sets, find themselves 2-0 in a five set game. If not for Pandya's brilliance, it could have been 6-2,6-1. Now I guess it is 7-5,7-6

[English August]

India going to loose this one unless they pull of a miracle. Always saw it impossible for them to take on Sa in Sa. Just stating the obvious...

Hard to loose a Test match. A loss, however, is likely.

[English August]

C'mmon Saffers I am with you all the way! Hammer the Bharatis as hard as possible! Even Gandhi got his you know what handed back to him in South Africa! 300 plus run lead should be sufficient to win the first Test.

Kudos for spelling "Gandhi" correctly even though you managed to get everything else about him wrong. Most Pakistanis would have written "Ghandi"

But it's "Bhartiyas", not "Bhartis". "Bhartis" makes no sense at all.

[English August]

I do feel for Steyn. After a year+ layoff, only able to bowl 15 overs before going down again.

I cannot help but think if this is the end. He is approaching 35, so things will only get harder for a fast bowler.

Agree his career is over. An unfortunate end to a brilliant career. Well played!

[English August]

India have controlled the damage to certain extent with two wickets.

Er, no. Leaked way too many runs too quickly, just like in the first innings. It's effectively 140/2. Hard to recover from here.

[English August]

And Pandya strikes again! This time he takes out Elgar for 25 and suddenly pressure seems to be on South Africa as they slump to 59/2, with lead standing at 136 runs #SAvInd #Cricket

Are you watching the game as the rest of us? There is zero pressure on SA. "Slump to 59/2?" You gotta be kidding!

[dauntless]

Another day of humiliation coming up for HTBs and FTBs.We are coming! Go guys.Destroy them!!
#no mercy
#decimation

[JaDed]

Pandya's innings still feels like fluke but him doing it in CT and now here probably proves my assumption wrong,still the kid has got in him to fight,but hopefully improves as a player too.

[Test champion]

It's raining in Capetown right now .and today forcecast prediction is cloudy with some shower up and down .it's very good news for Indian pacer