Sourav Ganguly calls ICC intervention for 'unfair' Johannesburg pitch

[bowl_out]

Except Rahul maybe, all other batsmen got out to poor shots.

 

Ishant and Virat pushed hard at the ball.

Vijay, Pujara, Parthiv needlessly fished outside the off stump for balls that could be left alone

Rahane played down the wrong line, was tad unlucky to be given out.. Real time first impression was that it would be sliding down

Pandya - what the hell was he thinking. makes me wonder everytime that he doesn't fit into the test set up and that his 90 was a lucky one

Shami was his usual self

BK - only saving grace, didn't have much of an option with Bumrah at the other end

 

[bowl_out]

And to add to all, kudos to Kohli for deciding to bat first on a green mamba with rains the previous week.

[express bowling]

Too many touring sides have unfairly criticized spinning tracks in Asia over the years.

 

It is high time they are put under some pressure for their pitches.

 

Well done Dada  !

[Rasgulla]

Shut it!!!! We gave them rank turners

[WeStMiDz]

Love green tracks, love square turners, love when test cricket is riveting and every ball has you on the edge. 

 

ICC should advocate such pitches.

[Dada's Army]

Dada has a point. But someone tell him not to start his tweets with @ as they get partially hidden.

[Shunya]

No problem with the pitch - neither the green mambas overseas or square turners at home. This is the only way left to make test cricket competitive and interesting. Two tier Test matches is what I would like to see to more competition between top teams to see the real capability of each team where they should not get a chance to pad up stats against weaker opponents.

[maniac]

29 minutes ago, Shunya said:

No problem with the pitch - neither the green mambas overseas or square turners at home. This is the only way left to make test cricket competitive and interesting. Two tier Test matches is what I would like to see to more competition between top teams to see the real capability of each team where they should not get a chance to pad up stats against weaker opponents.

Actually lottery pitches are bad regardless even though they make for entertaining cricket...I mean a guy like okeefe or a bowler like Clarke can become as good as Ashwin or Harbhajan.

 

so if the sentiment is “if Pune pitch gets a bad review” than so should an absolute green mamba that holds the grass for 3 days then I totally agree.

 

Complaining about a pitch that becomes a dust bowl by day 4 or 5 or a pitch that starts of grassy and eventually evens out is pointless because where is the fun if all pitches are flat or ones with true bounce.

 

Dada might have a point if this pitch is an absolute minefield where players are getting injured like it happened in Barbados I think before or he may have a point if this game gets over in 2-3 days due to uneven bounce and absolutely pathetic playing conditions for the batsman.

 

Raising this issue on day 1 itself when especially half of the batsmen were out due to poor stroke  play and not knowing how it will behave on day 2 and 3 is a bit premature.

Edited January 24, 2018 by maniac

[zen]

Personally, I like sporting pitches where there is something for everyone .... But also like rank turners, green mambas, etc. too for variety in cricket .... There is a need to grow cricket as a sport and variety certainly helps to generate interest 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2018 by zen

[surajmal]

Gangu bai is correct. 

[Lannister]

The reason why Indian pitches get a lot of flak is because of its low quality. Rank turners are fair as long as the ball doesn't stay too low and lot of dust coming of off the pitch. BCCI should invest in these things and find a proper pitch where spin is the main factor and the pitch can hold off for 5 days. 

But the crooks are busy looting money.

[Deleted_User_1]

7 hours ago, maniac said:

Timing looks bad...what if it evens out tommorow?

 

yes from the look of it doesn’t seem the case

That is why it is incomprehensible why Kohli won the toss and with five seamers decided to bat first!! 

[rkt.india]

8 hours ago, maniac said:

I am a poster on an online cricket forum and so are you...is the forum rule to agree with everything a cricket legend has to say or are you supposed to have your individual assessment of things?

 

I said if it is a total minefield than sure but just because day 1 had some grass it looks stupid to start complaining till the match is over.

 

What if South Africa score 400 here?

But it was for sure a minefield yesterday. 

[maniac]

19 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

But it was for sure a minefield yesterday. 

It was a grassy pitch with a lot of seam moment...my understanding of a minefield is variable bounce where 1 ball is ankle length and the other that hits you in the head...2nd test pitch was more like that...this pitch had exaggerated moment because of grass and usually it might get better for batting  as we see such pitches in Newzealand and England. The pitch had even bounce. I didn’t see any uneven bounce and as I said let us wait for tommorow.

[maniac]

@rkt.india how many wickets did we lose to bad shots?

 

Was batting first the right decision?

 

sometimes it is very easy to blame things on other stuff...complaining about the pitch to show equality and all is very heartwarming and a debate for another day

[maniac]

a pitch that  doesn’t hold together and starts crumbling and breaking up from day 1 with a lot of cracks in it is definitely substandard without a doubt..a pitch where there is grass but  the bounce is even and the soil is not breaking up is not ...now if the groundsman  left a lot of  grass deliberately more than the required metric of ICC than definitely call it substandard....that is why I am saying we should wait till the match is over.

 

Capetown pitch was substandard without a doubt absolutely agree..jury is still out in this one

Edited January 25, 2018 by maniac

[rkt.india]

24 minutes ago, maniac said:

@rkt.india how many wickets did we lose to bad shots?

 

Was batting first the right decision?

 

sometimes it is very easy to blame things on other stuff...complaining about the pitch to show equality and all is very heartwarming and a debate for another day

Bad shots are forced errors, result of pitch conditions. Ever thought why players dont play such bad shots on flat pitches? 

[Frustrated]

4 hours ago, Prince_ said:

  

 

Pot calling kettle black? The only reason behind India's no 1 spot is their infamous tank turners. Nothing else. Ganguly should stop crying. 

When SAF achieves no 1 spot by winning on bouncy green mambas at home, it's alright for you.     When India achieves the same on rank turners, why do you hv a problem.?            Moreover, the ' rank turner ' thing is exaggerated.                        No rank Turner was served when NZ, Eng, SL and BD toured India. Even during Australia tour of India, only Pune wicket was a rank Turner. 

[rkt.india]

13 minutes ago, maniac said:

a pitch that  doesn’t hold together and starts crumbling and breaking up from day 1 with a lot of cracks in it is definitely substandard without a doubt..a pitch where there is grass but  the bounce is even and the soil is not breaking up is not ...now if the groundsman  left a lot of  grass deliberately more than the required metric of ICC than definitely call it substandard....that is why I am saying we should wait till the match is over.

 

Capetown pitch was substandard without a doubt absolutely agree..jury is still out in this one

A pitch that has alarming seam movement in first two hours is also a minefield, like a pitch with extreme turn. 

[maniac]

Just now, rkt.india said:

Bad shots are forced errors, result of pitch conditions. Ever thought why players dont play such bad shots on flat pitches? 

Pitch having some grass doesn’t make it a minefield....players are trained at the basic level to counter swing and seam no matter how much there is...you can’t teach technique on a crumbling pitch which makes it a minefield.

 

Pujara’s approach in the 2nd half of his innings was actually perfect...punish half volleys and ignore the semi decent ones also...that’s why he got a pretty much chance less 50.

 

Lets agree to disagree.