Where is India's focus?

[fineleg]

Where is India's focus? "where is their focus at the moment and what are they hoping to achieve? They have been distracted by the IPL [indian Premier League] and they are still living off their success in Australia. The problem with India is not the cricket they have played but how they came into this match

Medini Mangala: Hello and welcome to Cricinfo Talk. As always I have with me former South African batsman Daryll Cullinan to look back on the second day of the second Test in Ahmedabad. Daryll, AB de Villiers made his first double-century. What did you make of his knock and the way he played the spinners, especially Anil Kumble? Daryll Cullinan: Well, it was a sensational innings by de Villiers. We have known all along that he is a special talent. He had got some big hundreds for South Africa but I believe in terms of his career, it [this double-century] is a breakthrough knock under the conditions - away from home and with South Africa really looking to win the series by winning this Test. The fact that he had batted for a good part of the day with Jacques Kallis would have had a big influence on how he played. But his confidence and his ability to rise to the occasion makes him a really special player. Let us hope that he will pick up from the likes of Kallis when they are gone and will become South Africa's premier batsman and one of the best around the world. MM: Kallis shrugged off form concerns with a hard-fought century. He came in when South Africa had lost three quick wickets. How crucial was his knock and his partnership with de Villiers? DC: Critical because de Villiers would have fed off Kallis in terms of how to handle [Anil] Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The pace bowlers would never have posed a problem for South Africa under those conditions. I had said after the first Test that Kallis is just too good a player, too classy a player and too hungry a player to miss out when conditions are this good and that is exactly what he did. [it was] a masterful innings. Kallis, we have to admit is really, truly one of the great players and when his career is done and dusted, [he] will go down as one of the greatest of all. It must be a great privilege for the likes of de Villiers to bat around such a class player. MM: Agreed the pitch had flattened out but what do you think the Indian bowlers, particularly the pacemen, could have done on this pitch? DC: I think the problem is when you have 76 on board, you have to get wickets and try and knock over the opposition to make some sort of a game of it. So it is very difficult to be patient and consistent. India only have themselves to blame. They batted badly and they are now asking their bowlers to perform the impossible. There wasn't a lot I thought they could have done, but they perhaps could have been a lot more patient and clearer about what they were trying to achieve. For India the match was over on the first morning and that goes back in terms of their preparation - where is their focus at the moment and what are they hoping to achieve? They have been distracted by the IPL [indian Premier League] and they are still living off their success in Australia. The problem with India is not the cricket they have played but how they came into this match. That is what they will have to address seriously to try and pull the series back from South Africa. MM: South Africa lead by 418 runs and there are three days of play left. Do you see them declaring or will they bat it out? What do you think they should do? DC: I think they will look to bat in the morning - get at least 500 ahead - and then say to India: "Come". It is clear to India that they will have to try and bat out two-and-a-half days. They [south Africa] need to be bold. This is a great opportunity to win a Test and secure the series - make sure they cannot lose it. So they have to be bold now and they cannot just look to bat on. They should believe that with [a lead of] 500 on board and two days left - if they can't bowl India out in two days, then sadly I don't think they can do it in two-and-a-half days. MM: Thank you so much for your views Daryll. We'll hear from you again tomorrow

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[Laaloo]

:mail::mail::mail::whatchutalkingabout:mama::elefant::marchmellow::playingball::fight:

[cochise]

For India the match was over on the first morning and that goes back in terms of their preparation - where is their focus at the moment and what are they hoping to achieve? They have been distracted by the IPL [indian Premier League] and they are still living off their success in Australia. The problem with India is not the cricket they have played but how they came into this match. That is what they will have to address seriously to try and pull the series back from South Africa.

Another spot on observation. Indians have been found out to be casual in their approach to this match and series.

[Laaloo]

mods can we pls make a new section for fineleg so he/she can bit** there as much as she wants

[cochise]

That's quite a reaction there njkiller...love the full range of emoticons...:cantstop:

[fineleg]

For India the match was over on the first morning and that goes back in terms of their preparation - where is their focus at the moment and what are they hoping to achieve? They have been distracted by the IPL [indian Premier League] and they are still living off their success in Australia. The problem with India is not the cricket they have played but how they came into this match. That is what they will have to address seriously to try and pull the series back from South Africa. Another spot on observation. Indians have been found out to be casual in their approach to this match and series.

Absolutely...I dont know how much the IPL distraction comment is true, it can very well be. But certainly the part about "living off their success in Australia" is so reminiscent of the Indian teams - present and past teams. If they pull up their socks, and get a hard earned victory(cue: in Aus), they heave a sigh of relief, and then start relaxing and losing focus. So evident in their play - both at Madras and at Motera.

[Guest Hiten.]

What kind of speculation is this ? IPL hype was equally as high as right now when we toured down under. We still managed to play quality cricket didn't we ? So why now has our focus shifted towards IPL ? This is BS. Our focus is very much on this series, but our performances have been lackluster.

[iluvbrettlee]

Basically....its just not the same team that won down in Australai, it is full of all those dumb senior players who don't have an aggressiveness, energy, or hunger to win...... Indians are bad a Test because the senior players don't have the same enthusiasm as the young ones...

[fineleg]

Basically....its just not the same team that won down in Australai, it is full of all those dumb senior players who don't have an aggressiveness, energy, or hunger to win...... Indians are bad a Test because the senior players don't have the same enthusiasm as the young ones...

Its the Test team not ODI team we are talking about.

[Chaos]

focus is team india's most hated Word. And india's focus is in my pants

[Zakhmi]

We will bounce back, says Kumble The crushing loss against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Saturday may rank as one of India's worst defeats in Test cricket, but captain Anil Kumble is unperturbed. The veteran spinner believes that his team is confident they can win the third and final Test in Kanpur and level the three-match series. "There is pressure. You have lost a Test here, so it's important for us to bounce back and we have the confidence we will bounce back," the captain said after India went down to South Africa by an innings and 90 runs. India were bowled out for a lowly 76 in their first innings and Kumble believes that the team never recovered from that blow. "It's always difficult to come back after being bundled out for 76. We did well to pick up four quick wickets but the partnership between AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis was the crucial partnership. If we had probably got a wicket at that stage then things could have been different," he said. South Africa made a huge 494 for seven in their first innings and in reply bowled out India for 328 to take a deserved 1-0 lead. Kumble, however, refused to blame the curator and instead said the batsmen failed to adjust to the extra bounce and swing that the new ball offered. "I think the wicket behaved like that throughout with the new ball. It was just the matter of adjusting to that. It was one of those days where all the nicks either hit the stumps or went straight to the fielder." Meanwhile, captain Graeme Smith said even he would have elected to bat if he had won the toss. "I would have done the same [elected to bat]. The wicket had something in it for the first hour or so and it swung a bit. The new ball throughout the game had something in it and our bowling unit knew we had to make it count and we did that superbly well. Our batters countered a lot better against the swinging ball. After that it became a good wicket. We obviously had a big partnership between Jacques and AB [de Villers]," he said. For South Africa, AB de Villiers stole the show with a sparkling knock of 217, his maiden double century in Tests. Even Jacques Kallis had a reason to celebrate as he scored 132 to register his 30th century in Test cricket. "Jacques's 30th Test hundred is a terrific thing for South Africa; it is a huge milestone for our country. AB's first double century is obviously a huge stepping stone in his career," the South African captain said. Smith acknowledged that his team had come into the series well-prepared and their efforts are bearing fruits now. "It is one of those days which you really got to enjoy. We have been really focused around this series and things we wanted to achieve. Obviously winning the series and doing what it takes to come first are one of those things," he said.