Handling SA seamers would be very tough...

[Rajan]

if you have watched the match today, especially the way Sehwag and Gambhir were dismissed off bouncers, Drvaid getting a lucky escape courtesy of a 'no-ball' call when fending off a bouncer, and later getting hit on the helmet ear guard/jaw.....,from the 'ordinary' Bangla seamers who were not bowling anything beyond 135k, on a typical sub continent pitch.... then, Handling Steyn, Morkel and any of their 2 more seamers would be a real challenge... Morkel is quite tall and generates a lot of awkward bounce from just short of a good length, Steyn is 150k and has a good bouncer apart from superb late swing... SA would have noted down what happened today and would definitely target the indian batsmen with plenty of short stuff.Chin music would be the flavour of the series... As usual Sachin negotiated the short stuff easily and had a scare in trying to play upper cut once and got a life. Am sure Gary Kirsten would ensure that the batsmen practice and be prepared for the short stuff but am not reall sure how well the team will cope up .... What is your take on this...............?

[Sachinism]

This pitch seemed to have extra bounce, don't expect this kinda bounce on Indian wickets. I can only imagine it was excessive bounce considering how often our batsmen were troubled by it

[vvvslaxman]

That madke you conclude Indians struggle against bouncers? Even Dravid and Sachin fended off. Reason is bounce of extremely variable. They measured nearly 36 cm height difference between two balls bounced at the same spot. If that happens not just gambhir,anyone who is playing international cricket would struggle. Didn't you see how Kallis was fending off Ishant Sharma at Kanpur last time around. Because as a cricketer you want true bounce. Dravid got hit today because that ball was supposed to go well over Dravid. It didn't rise at all. It is hard not to avoid fending once in a while on a pitch that had variable bounce. Often they were bowling huge no balls for such bouncers.

[Laaloo]

There was variable/uneven bounce on Kanpur 08 pitch. I didn't see SA seamers do anything spectular there :headshake:

[thevortex]

There is not a single batsman in this world who is absolutely comfortable against good short deliveries from fast bowlers. Also if I may point out all the problems with short deliveries in this wicket were a direct result of the slowness and sponginess of the wicket rather than any outright pace off the surface. Dravid, when he got hit, actually had too much time. And given the greater time, indecision set in and he made the wrong decision. It was the same thing which forced Tendulkar to almost trip up and hand his wicket over with that upper cut. Gambhir has never been a good executioner of the hook stroke, but he does not shy away from trying his hand at it. Sehwag on the other hand does not essay the hook stroke and recognizes his limitation. In Sehwag's case it was a case of the ball being too good. After flaying a 128 kmph ball down the track the previous he was genuinely surprised by a 138 kmph lifter the next delivery. I would not extrapolate on the SA series based on what happens in this series. The biggest factors when it comes to the SA series would be the pitches in India. And God only knows what is going to turn up. I certainly hope we prepare square turners for the South Africans. There is absolutely nothing wrong in playing to our strength no matter what the ICC says. And the Springboks do not have a spinner worth his salt in their squad. We need to exploit not just that but their extreme vulnerability against spin bowling. ________ TSexoticCOCKxx

[vvvslaxman]

There was variable/uneven bounce on Kanpur 08 pitch. I didn't see SA seamers do anything spectular there :headshake:

They were not real idiots to bowl bouncers all day and end up conceding nearly 400 runs in a day :hysterical: . This is tennis ball bounce. You cannot make a shot selection trusting this bounce. That is how Dravid got hit. He ducked into a bouncer that was supposed to go well over his head.

[Fontaine]

Steyn and Morkel are in very good form and it's going to be a good series for sure. Spin definitely has to play a factor and I hope we get pitches that reflect that.

[vvvslaxman]

Steyn and Morkel are in very good form and it's going to be a good series for sure. Spin definitely has to play a factor and I hope we get pitches that reflect that.

Because they prepared a green top for England in the last Test. I do not think that is going to happen here. Even if it happens it won't last for more than a session. Even if we want we cannot prepare geen tops that last for 5 days. It will at the most last one session. Nagpur thought can assist seamers a bit early on. Kolkatta will have something for everyone. But slightly truer and flatter.

[Ram]

We should give their pacers absolutely NOTHING to work with. Any sort of assistance they might get should be because of the early morning moisture and colder conditions, not because there's something on the pitch.

[vvvslaxman]

Bangla pitches are somewhat different from other subcontinent pitches. Those who love the ball to come on to bat will struggle there. Even Sehwag had problems because of its start and stop nature. Majoirty of the time batsmen were early into their strokes.

[punjabi_khota]

We should give their pacers absolutely NOTHING to work with. Any sort of assistance they might get should be because of the early morning moisture and colder conditions' date=' not because there's something on the pitch.[/quote'] Thats such a loser approach I don't know where you come up with that stuff. :hysterical::hysterical: We are trying to build a dominant team here, and you want pitches with nothing for pacers ? Even the spinners like to have bounce in the pitch. Our test pace attack is not bad and I see Zak and Ishant back in form. They were the MOS in home series against aussies and england, and THIS is how you reward them. and once they break down, then blame on the Indian genes. :hysterical:

[saneindian]

Nagpur and Eden wont have this kind of spongy tennis ball as well as variable bounce. And assuming even if there is this kind of the bounce, I am sure our batsmen will score 400 plus. Dont expect Sehwag to play so indifferently when facing the likes of Steyn , Morkel and Co. He will be all charged up to put up a huge score in quick time. Sachin , Gambhir even Vijay all are looking in good touch. Hopefully tomorrow morning Yuvi gets into some good batting form too.

[vvvslaxman]

Indian genes lol

[vvvslaxman]

You have to take into account when you play superior teams you are going to up your game accordingly. It is quiet natural. Bangla bowlers were bowling bouncer after bouncer like slaves even when India was like million runs for 2 wickets. It gives them the satisfaction bowling to these players. Imagine Zak bowling to Tamim iqbal, imrul kayas. Motivation level will be touch lower.

[Andy]

A lot will depend on Viru and Gambo. Yuvraj may cost us. Sachin will have a gud series. If Dravid can handle late swing and if he plays, i can see India doing well. This series will tell us whether we belong at the top or not.

[vvvslaxman]

Veeru will make another 300!! Usually Shaun Pollock used to be a problem for us. He averaged 19 against us. With Ntini on the wane they depend on Steyn and Morkel. Morkel bowled very well last time. Infact he was the best of the lot. Steyn was at times good. At times mediocre.

[Ram]

Thats such a loser approach I don't know where you come up with that stuff. :hysterical::hysterical: We are trying to build a dominant team here, and you want pitches with nothing for pacers ? Even the spinners like to have bounce in the pitch. Our test pace attack is not bad and I see Zak and Ishant back in form. They were the MOS in home series against aussies and england, and THIS is how you reward them. and once they break down, then blame on the Indian genes. :hysterical:

Huh? Would you like a history lesson? Have you forgotten what happened the last time South Africans were here? Playing to your strengths and the opponents' weakness is not called a 'loser approach'. Its called 'smart strategy'. Everyone does it, including South Africa, who just prepared an extreme pacer friendly pitch to win the last test against England. And of course I know our pace attack of Zak and Ishant are not bad. In fact, I think they're VERY effective on Indian conditions, especially when it comes to exploiting morning moisture or the late afternoon reverse swing. And that is why, I have backed them to take South African wickets, even when there is no explicit assistance for them from the pitches. Part of the reason why I dont want anything overtly pacer-friendly on the pitch is because I have a lot of faith in our fast bowlers to take maximum mileage of whatever that is out there.

[Andy]

Veeru will make another 300!! Usually Shaun Pollock used to be a problem for us. He averaged 19 against us. With Ntini on the wane they depend on Steyn and Morkel. Morkel bowled very well last time. Infact he was the best of the lot. Steyn was at times good. At times mediocre.

I remember Steyn Destroying our Batting Line up at Ahmedabad.

[punjabi_khota]

Huh? Would you like a history lesson? Have you forgotten what happened the last time South Africans were here? Playing to your strengths and the opponents' weakness is not called a 'loser approach'. Its called 'smart strategy'. Everyone does it, including South Africa, who just prepared an extreme pacer friendly pitch to win the last test against England.

Dude, what happened last time was that we chose to bat on the surface which had lots of grass, and by the time we were rolled over for 76, the pitch had eased up because the grass was gone. Thats what happens in most Indian pitches if you leave grass and it is sunny. But I am not at all saying we should do that, rather I am talking about making pitches bouncy and have more life in them. There's a difference. and we have better pacers now than we had during that series. I absolutely think we should not shy away from making the pitches sporting. or else we should shut up forever about indian pacers breaking down or not being good enough.

[vvvslaxman]

I remember Steyn Destroying our Batting Line up at Ahmedabad.

Much like Srilanka did against India in the first session. Lot of juice on that surface. Against Lanka India recovered after the first session. Other than that one innings i don't see Steyn doing any magic against us. If SA had batted first there SA would have found themeslves in the same scenario.