Countdown to Kohli being ranked number 1

[veer]

They will come right at us.. Better get ready for the battle.. there will be a lot of heart burns tomorrow and day after. As I was saying, SA bowled very wide and relied on our batters to make mistake.. But dont expect the same from now on..

Still, Donald said South Africa never felt India took the game away. "They fired down," he said. The run-out of Pujara and Kohli's soft dismissal kept South Africa on a fairly even keel. Despite Ajinkya Rahane being handed the same leeway, with South Africa offering as much, if not more, width at the end of the day as they did at the beginning, Donald was largely satisfied. "I will say I will take it. It was a mixture of asking the right questions but then being a bit sloppy in patches. There's no doubt we have to make a big play tomorrow." For that, Donald will ask them to remember The Oval. South Africa surged back on the second day with much more conviction and purpose. The chat Donald had with them may have had something to do with it. "I went to bowlers individually and spoke to them," he said. "I chatted with Dale especially about setting the tone." Led by a fired-up Steyn, South Africa took the last seven England wickets for 114 runs. "We locked in so well and didn't give England anything," Donald said. "That's what we have to do tomorrow. There is a lot riding on tomorrow's first session and how the bowlers set the tone." In recent months, South Africa have not stacked up bad days and Donald is convinced that won't change, especially if he has something to do with it. "When we have a rusty day, we get back into things and we pride ourselves on how we find a way. We have done that successfully against teams all around the world. Tomorrow is another one of those days where we have to do it."

[jusarrived]

They will come right at us.. Better get ready for the battle.. there will be a lot of heart burns tomorrow and day after. As I was saying, SA bowled very wide and relied on our batters to make mistake.. But dont expect the same from now on..

Steyn and Philander always bowl like that . you have to give credit for our batsmen not playing at those deliveries. they are not exactly unplayable .

[veer]

Steyn and Philander always bowl like that . you have to give credit for our batsmen not playing at those deliveries. they are not exactly unplayable .

Not taking anything away from our batters at all. However as a spectator I was feeling that a good percentage of delieveries were harmless if you are skilled enough and ready to let them go.. if they had bowled pitching in leg and middle stump with moving away delieveries that make batsmen play them, it would have been more effective. There were so few LBW appeals.. (imagine that on the first day). I guess I have been watching a lot of ashes lately where Ozzies/English were making batters play at them rather than pitching outside off and moving away delieveries. By the way, see the difference tomorrow. I bet Rahane will find it difficult leaving balls..

[vvvslaxman]

Not taking anything away from our batters at all. However as a spectator I was feeling that a good percentage of delieveries were harmless if you are skilled enough and ready to let them go.. if they had bowled pitching in leg and middle stump with moving away delieveries that make batsmen play them, it would have been more effective.. I guess I have been watching a lot of ashes lately where Ozzies/English were making batters play at them rather than pitching outside off and moving away delieveries. By the way, see the difference tomorrow. I bet Rahane will find it difficult leaving balls..

Those are the deliveries that has reduced teams to 50 for 4, 40 for 4 over the years. Some of them were very very close to off stump. So it needs great skill to leave those balls.

[veer]

Those are the deliveries that has reduced teams to 50 for 4' date=' 40 for 4 over the years. Some of them were very very close to off stump. So it needs great skill to leave those balls.[/quote'] Nahhh... Delieveries on I can do "Ooohs and aaahs" were far less.. They were there but not that many. They were bowling ODI type bowling where batters take risk to score runs but, with exception of Dhawan, our batters were in Test mode.. I saw about 40-50 early overs today but didnt see a single LBW appeal.. saw couple of caught behind appeals but that's that. Three top rank bowlers and couldnt beat bat even single time in those overs?? Trust me.. they'll ractify their mistakes and come hard at us next time.

[vvvslaxman]

Nahhh... Delieveries on I can do "Ooohs and aaahs" were far less.. They were there but not that many. They were bowling ODI type bowling where batters take risk to score runs but, with exception of Dhawan, our batters were in Test mode.. I saw about 40-50 early overs today but didnt see a single LBW appeal.. saw couple of caught behind appeals but that's that.

I have seen prertty much all SA tests. That is how they operate. What you saw was very high quality fast bowling much better than what you saw in Australia. England failed because they were terrified of Johnson. The pitch that India played was quicker than any of the surfaces that England/Australia played. Same way quality of bowling was better from SA. Just because India did well doesn't mean they bowled bad. Average first day score on this ground is 251/9. But for a freak run out Indians left the ball exceptionally wel. Leaving the ball is not as easy as you think. It requires skill. You sound like you have never Dale Steyn before. Dale Steyn bowls that way all his life. He just pitches anywhere between leg stump to off stump and swings it away. Indians defended the straight balls, left the outswingers from off stump. They had great game plan.

[veer]

I have seen prertty much all SA tests. That is how they operate. What you saw was very high quality fast bowling much better than what you saw in Australia. England failed because they were terrified of Johnson. The pitch that India played was quicker than any of the surfaces that England/Australia played. Same way quality of bowling was better from SA. Just because India did well doesn't mean they bowled bad. Average first day score on this ground is 251/9. But for a freak run out Indians left the ball exceptionally wel. Leaving the ball is not as easy as you think. It requires skill. You sound like you have never Dale Steyn before. Dale Steyn bowls that way all his life. He just pitches anywhere between leg stump to off stump and swings it away. Indians defended the straight balls, left the outswingers from off stump. They had great game plan.

But he didnt pitch too many on leg with swinging away delieveries.. He pitched most of them either on off stump or outside offstump with moving away.. The one they got Rohit Sharma on was pitched on off (not on leg) and moved away which he could have easily left alone. The ones I was expecting were those that can not be left alone but yet unplayable delieveries.

[jusarrived]

Not taking anything away from our batters at all. However as a spectator I was feeling that a good percentage of delieveries were harmless if you are skilled enough and ready to let them go.. if they had bowled pitching in leg and middle stump with moving away delieveries that make batsmen play them, it would have been more effective. There were so few LBW appeals.. (imagine that on the first day). I guess I have been watching a lot of ashes lately where Ozzies/English were making batters play at them rather than pitching outside off and moving away delieveries. By the way, see the difference tomorrow. I bet Rahane will find it difficult leaving balls..

Steyn infact dosent have a inswinger , philander brings one in occasionally but thats it . So you wont see them pitching on middle stump that often , cos it bcoms a runs scoring option against batsmen who are strong in that area . its not like they dint attack the stumps , Virat drove one straight at the beginning , even rahane & Dhawan did the the same at the start of their innings . Did you see Dhoni standing on off stump ? He was trying to get closer to the ball . Had SA attacked the stumps all the day , the score probably would have been 330/8 rather than 255/5 imo

[vvvslaxman]

But he didnt pitch too many on leg with swinging away delieveries.. He pitched most of them either on off stump or outside offstump with moving away.. The one they got Rohit Sharma on was pitched on off (not on leg) and moved away which he could have easily left alone. The ones I was expecting were those that can not be left alone but yet unplayable delieveries.

Those deliveries were negotiated by Kohli. You are talking about magic deliveries. Kohli is such a gifted onside player that he covered the swing from the leg stump. Steyn bowled as well as i have ever seen. Indians had simple plan. If it goes outside the off leave it. If it comes straight defend. That's it. Indians never made an attempt to leave the ball that was likely to hit the stumps.

[vvvslaxman]

Steyn infact dosent have a inswinger ' date=' philander brings one in occasionally but thats it . So you wont see them pitching on middle stump that often , cos it bcoms a runs scoring option against batsmen who are strong in that area . its not like they dint attack the stumps ,[b'] Virat drove one straight at the beginning , even rahane & Dhawan did the the same at the start of their innings . Did you see Dhoni standing on off stump ? He was trying to get closer to the ball . Had SA attacked the stumps all the day , the score probably would have been 330/8 rather than 255/5 imo

Exactly. He did try that in the first one dayer which resulted in straight boundary. Indian players are great onside players.

[Deleted_User_1]

Probably he is different in that way from Dravid, Laxman, Srt etc. I guess if its working for him then I don't mind. I was disappointed that he got out the way he did. I thought he could have scored 150 easily the way he was shwoing termperment. Good thing is that he will learn from this for sure as he always does and will comeback hard. He knows in the back of his mind that he got to pay back to his RCB team mate Kallis for getting a wicket on a cheap shyt delivery.

It is good to have some aggression provided it is well-channeled. I am glad he is not yelling MC, BC after the tons. Also if he is sledged by players he needs to give it back using his bat. Same goes if he is taunted by the crowd. Just keep you mouth shut and perform with the bat. That is what Sachin did all his career and how often did he get sledged towards the middle and end of his career?

[Ghost Buster]

+++ Philander will own him if Don Mama allows the series to continue

:hysterical:

[Ghost Buster]

A century Against the best fast bowling attack currently In South Africa on their fastest and bounciest pitch There was seam movement and some swing too 2 wickets down cheaply Good against both the channel deliveries and short balls This is the kind of batsman that I want to have in my team.

Exactly, i like your analysis in your posts.

[ruchi49]

he is good but he has to prove himself

[express bowling]

Exactly' date=' i like your analysis in your posts.[/quote'] Thanks. Good to know that you like a hard fight between batsmen and bowlers too and the players who contribute to that.

[veer]

Those deliveries were negotiated by Kohli. You are talking about magic deliveries. Kohli is such a gifted onside player that he covered the swing from the leg stump. Steyn bowled as well as i have ever seen. Indians had simple plan. If it goes outside the off leave it. If it comes straight defend. That's it. Indians never made an attempt to leave the ball that was likely to hit the stumps.

here it is from horse's mouth...

Philander did his part in leading the attack. He was South Africa's best bowler on the day and in his first two spells looked as though he would take a wicket every other ball. He got good bounce, he beat the bat, he moved the ball just enough to create tension. Most importantly, he zoned in consistently on an off-stump target. That was the main difference between the South African and Indian bowlers and Philander recognised it. "They attacked the stumps all the time. We didn't do that well, even in the first innings," he said. Despite Philander being the person who was doing that, he was used less than he could have been.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2013-14/content/story/702513.html

[badmash]

Kohli - most desciplined batsman This guy is the most disciplined batsman i have ever seen in a looong time. Plus he is good technically and has an aggressive attitude. I think this era will belong to Kohli.

[Old guy]

Nah it as guy playing on other end but Kohli looks more classy Kind of like dravid and tendulkar in past

[Cricketics]

I am the biggest Kohli fan in the world probably, but I feel he is still not the most disciplined batsman in test. He has the X-FACTOR and determination to do well in both formats test and odi's but has't reached that mark yet in test. He has it in him and is definitely my first choice in current world 11. Pujara and Amla are the most disciplined batsman right now and then comes Kohli. Kohli will surpass everyone though, as he seems to be the most strong and determined among all of them. Most hungry among all. But most disciplined for now - Pujara and AMLA.

[Old guy]

There are many more disciplined guys in cricket Cook,amla,kallis etc so many ..but in our team its easily pujara not that it matters but that's true Kohli just covers swing beautifully and has so much time