India really fluffed a great chance yesterday

[mancalledsting]

Let me just start off by saying what a fantastic test match. Real cricket at its best. This may surprise some, but India did many things right in this test match (as compared with their previous overseas horrors) and showed many key attributes of a team that can be successful overseas. Sadly we lost the tactical/experience/organisational battle in this game and that was the difference between the two sides. If they have the open mindedness and will, the team and management can really learn a lot from this last game providing crucial experience going forward. 

 

1. Selection Dhawan/Rohit in place of Rahul/Rahane. Obvious one. Remember the phainty Rahane gave to Cummins on a spicy Dharmsala wicket? Remember the century on a green top at lords. Play him in ODIs and leave him out in tests....kya logic? Dhawan has the ability to attack well in these conditions (got starts in both innings) but sadly, does not have the defensive technique or tactical acumen to stay at the crease long enough to accumulate a substantial score. Rohit seems to find a different way to get out every innings. 

 

2. Bowling in 1st innings After Bhuvi has got us into a 12/3 position, Shami and Bumrah completely released the pressure valve allowing South African back into the game when we should have had them on their knees. Shami looked horrendously unfit/distressed, but seemed to be back to his normal self second innings. 

 

3. Batting order Sending Ashwin ahead of Saha/Pandya was a huge blunder. Ashwin is a good batsmen when he is not given the pressure of being an allrounder and batting up the order. When played as as tailender, he invariably contributes useful runs as evidenced by second innings. Saha and Panda have more batting prowess than Ashwin and the lineup should reflect that. Pandya could have scored so much more, if he didn't run out of partners in the first innings. 

 

4. Slip catching ABDV was ruthless in the slips, waiting for every ball and didnt drop anything, even difficult chances. Compare to Shikhar Dhawan in first innings who dropped a catch that you'd expect to be taken at school boy level. That drop cost us an extra 30-50 runs. Its like in ODIs if you can't run between the wickets/take your chances in the outfield, you will throw away games. Same applies to slip catching in tests. 

 

5. Chepu's approach He is a fine batsmen with excellent commitment. Unfortunately, he seems to be getting unplayable balls on every visit to South Africa. See the links below. What is the reason for this? Is it just because he's unlucky? I've noticed that because he lacks attacking intent, bowlers are very happy to run into him all day as they know the scoreboard will not go anywhere. If you don't score off the bowlers, you're giving them clean chit to run in at you and give you their best balls. Pujara, needs to think of ways that he can get off strike at least. It doesn't help that he is as very slow runner. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkyGiEd3m0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAexpYuoH1Y

 

6. No warm up game. It was not surprising that quicks looked horribly out of touch in the first innings and suddenly improved 2nd innings. Sri Lanka series..what a blunder by the BCCI, deary me!

 

Positives:

 

1. Never say die attitude of this side They simply wouldn't roll over, they took the match as far as they could. 

 

2. Formiddable fast bowling display 2nd innings This was amazing, to get South Africa 130 all out after they are 60/0 (those 60 runs they amassed when the wicket was at its flattest in the game). Didnt given the South African batsmen an inch. 

 

3. Hardik Pandya Self explanatory. As Kohli began to trust him more with the ball, the others pacers felt less pressure and could rest more.  

 

4. Ashwin Came under a lot of flak before this test with many calling for his head. Did very well with his bowling 1st innings, getting 2 wickets for dirt cheap. Was used by his captain like a spinner should be in these conditions- an axillary bowler who may help out in the final innings of the match. Not a front line bowler like MSD used to have Ashwin and Jadeja bowling together...OMG! Fielded really well too effecting an excellent run out and batting came good second innings, more comfortable lower down the order. 

 

5. Saha's WK Papered over the cracks in our slip cordon with his terrific catching. Didnt bat well first innings but looked to really apply himself second innings and in the end got a rough decision. 

 

Going forward?

 

At the very least drop Dhawan and Rohit. Bring in KL and Rahane in their place. I'd be happy with these 2 changes. 

 

I would personally like to see Rahane at no. 3, someone who can take the attack to the opposition and genuinly enjoys quick bowling. I'd move Chepu to opener (he can see of the ball as much as he likes there) in place of Vijay and play Iyer at 5. Vijay is also a liability in the field, he seems to have put on weight and is a very slow mover, South Africa milked some extra runs in the first innings because of this. We already have Aswhin, Chepu in the field, how many donkeys can we continue to carry in this test lineup overseas? Why Iyer? He's tall. An inherent advantage in bouncy conditions. Also, he looks to get on top of the ball when he plays his shots (that tends to stop you edging the ball in swinging conditions). He's fresh from Ranji and so hopefully his game hasn't been infected with bad t20 habits and maybe batting on mumbai tracks will mean he's more comfortable against pace. 

 

And finally, when all else fails....keep calm and remember the process

Edited January 8, 2018 by mancalledsting

[kira]

Kohli really needs to keep his yaarian out of team selection, I admit even I was happy to see rosh!t in place of rahane at first, I thought maybe rohit had turned a page in his career after his recent double and fastest century in t20s but besharma never fails to disappoint. Every one could see the failures of rosh!t and dhawan in sa conditions from a million miles away but kohli was blinded by his yaari. Pathetic team selection in hindsight

[Cricketics]

I think lack of batting practice is where we los tit I think. We are never a good starter away from home and lack of batting showed it. Like you could see Kohli and even Ashwin looking better and looked like scoring runs. If we had any warm up set up or something, we could have performed better.

 

Rahu and Rahane should have been there in the team but I don't think that was still the reason we lost. They are better than both Rohit and Dhawan but with lack of practice, even they might have struggled.

 

My biggest issue is with lack of warm up games. Big tour, once in 3-4 years and we decide to send team so late because some of them were busy with ODI'S.

 

Kohli could have stayed for the marriage but at least others should have joined early and played a warm up. At least if BCCI had arranged some warm ups before Christmas, team members barring Kohli at least should have joined early.

 

Bad planning is the number one culprit for the defeat.

 

Imagine any team coming to India where they anyways suck as its hard to even draw a test in India for any visiting team. Now if the visiting team don't play any warm up, they are in for massive drubbing in the firs test. Same thing happened to India.

[mancalledsting]

2 minutes ago, kira said:

Kohli really needs to keep his yaarian out of team selection, I admit even I was happy to see rosh!t in place of rahane at first, I thought maybe rohit had turned a page in his career after his recent double and fastest century in t20s but besharma never fails to disappoint. Every one could see the failures of rosh!t and dhawan in sa conditions from a million miles away but kohli was blinded by his yaari. Pathetic team selection in hindsight

Agree, Shastri also prefers aggressive players and so I guess he was also behind this.

[mancalledsting]

2 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

I think lack of batting practice is where we los tit I think. We are never a good starter away from home and lack of batting showed it. Like you could see Kohli and even Ashwin looking better and looked like scoring runs. If we had any warm up set up or something, we could have performed better.

 

Rahu and Rahane should have been there in the team but I don't think that was still the reason we lost. They are better than both Rohit and Dhawan but with lack of practice, even they might have struggled.

 

My biggest issue is with lack of warm up games. Big tour, once in 3-4 years and we decide to send team so late because some of them were busy with ODI'S.

 

Kohli could have stayed for the marriage but at least others should have joined early and played a warm up. At least if BCCI had arranged some warm ups before Christmas, team members barring Kohli at least should have joined early.

 

Bad planning is the number one culprit for the defeat.

 

Imagine any team coming to India where they anyways suck as its hard to even draw a test in India for any visiting team. Now if the visiting team don't play any warm up, they are in for massive drubbing in the firs test. Same thing happened to India.

If we didn’t have to play tests vs SL, Kohli, could have got married early December. Then he could have joined the team in South Africa during the ODI/T20 period. 

[Brainfade]

15 minutes ago, mancalledsting said:

Let me just start off by saying what a fantastic test match. Real cricket at its best. This may surprise some, but India did many things right in this test match (as compared with their previous overseas horrors) and showed many key attributes of a team that can be successful overseas. Sadly we lost the tactical/experience/organisational battle in this game and that was the difference between the two sides. If they have the open mindedness and will, the team and management can really learn a lot from this last game providing crucial experience going forward. 

 

1. Selection Dhawan/Rohit in place of Rahul/Rahane. Obvious one. Remember the phainty Rahane gave to Cummins on a spicy Dharmsala wicket? Remember the century on a green top at lords. Play him in ODIs and leave him out in tests....kya logic? Dhawan has the ability to attack well in these conditions (got starts in both innings) but sadly, does not have the defensive technique or tactical acumen to stay at the crease long enough to accumulate a substantial score. Rohit seems to find a different way to get out every innings. 

 

2. Bowling in 1st innings After Bhuvi has got us into a 12/3 position, Shami and Bumrah completely released the pressure valve allowing South African back into the game when we should have had them on their knees. Shami looked horrendously unfit/distressed, but seemed to be back to his normal self second innings. 

 

3. Batting order Sending Ashwin ahead of Saha/Pandya was a huge blunder. Ashwin is a good batsmen when he is not given the pressure of being an allrounder and batting up the order. When played as as tailender, he invariably contributes useful runs as evidenced by second innings. Saha and Panda have more batting prowess than Ashwin and the lineup should reflect that. Pandya could have scored so much more, if he didn't run out of partners in the first innings. 

 

4. Slip catching ABDV was ruthless in the slips, waiting for every ball and didnt drop anything, even difficult chances. Compare to Shikhar Dhawan in first innings who dropped a catch that you'd expect to be taken at school boy level. That drop cost us an extra 30-50 runs. Its like in ODIs if you can't run between the wickets/take your chances in the outfield, you will throw away games. Same applies to slip catching in tests. 

 

5. Chepu's approach He is a fine batsmen with excellent commitment. Unfortunately, he seems to be getting unplayable balls on every visit to South Africa. See the links below. What is the reason for this? Is it just because he's unlucky? I've noticed that because he lacks attacking intent, bowlers are very happy to run into him all day as they know the scoreboard will not go anywhere. If you don't score off the bowlers, you're giving them clean chit to run in at you and give you their best balls. Pujara, needs to think of ways that he can get off strike at least. It doesn't help that he is as very slow runner. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkyGiEd3m0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAexpYuoH1Y

 

6. No warm up game. It was not surprising that quicks looked horribly out of touch in the first innings and suddenly improved 2nd innings. Sri Lanka series..what a blunder by the BCCI, deary me!

 

Positives:

 

1. Never say die attitude of this side They simply wouldn't roll over, they took the match as far as they could. 

 

2. Formiddable fast bowling display 2nd innings This was amazing, to get South Africa 130 all out after they are 60/0 (those 60 runs they amassed when the wicket was at its flattest in the game). Didnt given the South African batsmen an inch. 

 

3. Hardik Pandya Self explanatory. As Kohli began to trust him more with the ball, the others pacers felt less pressure and could rest more.  

 

4. Ashwin Came under a lot of flak before this test with many calling for his head. Did very well with his bowling 1st innings, getting 2 wickets for dirt cheap. Was used by his captain like a spinner should be in these conditions- an axillary bowler who may help out in the final innings of the match. Not a front line bowler like MSD used to have Ashwin and Jadeja bowling together...OMG! Fielded really well too effecting an excellent run out and batting came good second innings, more comfortable lower down the order. 

 

5. Saha's WK Papered over the cracks in our slip cordon with his terrific catching. Didnt bat well first innings but looked to really apply himself second innings and in the end got a rough decision. 

 

Going forward?

 

At the very least drop Dhawan and Rohit. Bring in KL and Rahane in their place. I'd be happy with these 2 changes. 

 

I would personally like to see Rahane at no. 3, someone who can take the attack to the opposition and genuinly enjoys quick bowling. I'd move Chepu to opener (he can see of the ball as much as he likes there) in place of Vijay and play Iyer at 5. Vijay is also a liability in the field, he seems to have put on weight and is a very slow mover, South Africa milked some extra runs in the first innings because of this. We already have Aswhin, Chepu in the field, how many donkeys can we continue to carry in this test lineup overseas? Why Iyer? He's tall. An inherent advantage in bouncy conditions. Also, he looks to get on top of the ball when he plays his shots (that tends to stop you edging the ball in swinging conditions). He's fresh from Ranji and so hopefully his game hasn't been infected with bad t20 habits and maybe batting on mumbai tracks will mean he's more comfortable against pace. 

 

And finally, when all else fails....keep calm and remember the process

Excellent insights.  Especially vis-a-vis Pujara.  The technically strong but highly defensive bats (e.g., Pujara, Dravid) seem to get an inordinate number of "peaches."  Wish they could put a bit more pressure on the bowlers and soften them.  

[Deleted_User_1]

10 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

I think lack of batting practice is where we los tit I think. We are never a good starter away from home and lack of batting showed it. Like you could see Kohli and even Ashwin looking better and looked like scoring runs. If we had any warm up set up or something, we could have performed better.

 

Rahu and Rahane should have been there in the team but I don't think that was still the reason we lost. They are better than both Rohit and Dhawan but with lack of practice, even they might have struggled.

 

My biggest issue is with lack of warm up games. Big tour, once in 3-4 years and we decide to send team so late because some of them were busy with ODI'S.

 

Kohli could have stayed for the marriage but at least others should have joined early and played a warm up. At least if BCCI had arranged some warm ups before Christmas, team members barring Kohli at least should have joined early.

 

Bad planning is the number one culprit for the defeat.

 

Imagine any team coming to India where they anyways suck as its hard to even draw a test in India for any visiting team. Now if the visiting team don't play any warm up, they are in for massive drubbing in the firs test. Same thing happened to India.

Kuch nahin badlega biru!! This happens every 4 years. India knows how important these tours are, yet go in without any match preparation. It is because BCCI idiots care more about minting money with meaningless ODI/T20 series than match preparation. 

[maniac]

@mancalledsting excellent post.

[Brainfade]

11 minutes ago, dandaroy said:

Kuch nahin badlega biru!! This happens every 4 years. India knows how important these tours are, yet go in without any match preparation. It is because BCCI idiots care more about minting money with meaningless ODI/T20 series than match preparation. 

Sri Lanka tour se kitne paise banaate honge yaar yeh BCCI waale?  They could easily have fielded a 2nd-string side against the Lankans and sent the big boys early to SA to shop and acclimatize, or released them to get married or whatever.  

 

Reminded me of a 2-test WI series that was squeezed into the schedule in 2013-14.  

Edited January 8, 2018 by Brainfade

[Cricketics]

1 minute ago, dandaroy said:

Kuch nahin badlega biru!! This happens every 4 years. India knows how important these tours are, yet go in without any match preparation. It is because BCCI idiots care more about minting money with meaningless ODI/T20 series than match preparation. 

Problem is the whole set up of BCCI. Same guys, who worked with ICC FTP programme.

 

We are touring all these countries in the same year - SOUTH AFRICA, AUSTRALIA  AND ENGLAND. If we would have had played some overseas cricket in last 2 years, then players would have been more used to playing regularly overseas. Yes, the real mistake was started by old babus who set up ad agreed to the FTP program which had India playing all these nations in the same year and no away cricket for 2 years in a row.

 

These things should also be taken into consideration hen making schedule. Then to make it worse, current administration ads another series with Lanka in Decembers, sootiyagiri of the highest order.

[Nonbeliever]

[Number]

It was lost when BCCI cancelled the practice match and delayed team's arrival in South Africa.

[MechEng]

31 minutes ago, mancalledsting said:

Agree, Shastri also prefers aggressive players and so I guess he was also behind this.

You can watch tailunt's dismissal in 2nd innings on cricbuzz, just after he got out the cameraman focussed on Shastribot 

[Brainfade]

1 minute ago, Nonbeliever said:

Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with this.  It is anecdotal and is taken out of context.  They were out in the streets and broke into a dance.  BFD.  What were they doing before this pic?  After?  How do we know they weren't practicing as hard as they could given the constraints of being in this new environment just a few days before?  

[Cricketics]

28 minutes ago, mancalledsting said:

If we didn’t have to play tests vs SL, Kohli, could have got married early December. Then he could have joined the team in South Africa during the ODI/T20 period. 

Then I am not sure that he would have gotten married early and stuff, but main point was that others can actually leave for South Africa early even if Kohli is busy with marriage. This did not happen because BCCI did not have any warm ups in place.

 

Aus and England arrive sometimes a month before to each other nationa. In India, they make sure their prospects tour 6 months before to India to play for England A or some team and then they arrive again with the main team 3 weeks before the first test.

 

This is where we suck at. We know everything but when it comes to executing we suck.

 

 

[Shunya]

11 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Then I am not sure that he would have gotten married early and stuff, but main point was that others can actually leave for South Africa early even if Kohli is busy with marriage. This did not happen because BCCI did not have any warm ups in place.

 

Aus and England arrive sometimes a month before to each other nationa. In India, they make sure their prospects tour 6 months before to India to play for England A or some team and then they arrive again with the main team 3 weeks before the first test.

 

This is where we suck at. We know everything but when it comes to executing we suck.

 

 

Wasnt there a warm up game which Kohli did not agree to play?

[goose]

the best way to chase a small total is to attack. 

Edited January 8, 2018 by goose

[Laaloo]

2 minutes ago, goose said:

the best way to chase a small total is to attack. 

I think we missed a trick not promoting pandya up the order. A quick fire 25-30 could have put them on the back foot.

[Cricketics]

3 minutes ago, Shunya said:

Wasnt there a warm up game which Kohli did not agree to play?

That was too close to the first test and I kind of agree that we had to practice. Our itinerary is messed up. We as a team even if Kohli wasn't going to be available, at least the other 1 players should have arrived to South Africa by 14th-15th Dec. This is what England and Australia do. Actuallly they sometimes arrive a month before.

 

So had BCCI arranged the schedule that team arrived 3-4 weeks before, we would have had couple of warm ups, and good amount of net sessions. By the time we arrived, Dec 29 warm up was just too late and it was better to do net sessions.

 

We suck at scheduling. Why the fk can BCCI spend some money and send the team 3 weeks before and pay for their hotel and stuff if RSA BOARD IS not ready to pay for Indians that early.

 

 

[Gollum]

Good post but you lost me at 'Iyer'.