Board president XI vs South Africa - 2nd Feb to 3rd Feb -Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

[rkt.india]

Yogesh Takawale Mumbai Indians is the best wicketkeeper in India after wt i have seen in IPL

[jusarrived]

Are you sure on that? I have heard many experts say Saha is the best keeper in India and a first class average of 38 proves he is no mug with the bat either. Whatever little I saw of him in the IPL and in the last challenger series impressed me. Looks to be a nimble footed, very agile keeper with proper keeping technique unlike Parthiv, DK or even MSD.

nope ,Sahas keeping is quite avg ..even I would have preferred PP over Saha & am not a big a fan of Parthiv either

[jusarrived]

Yogesh Takawale Mumbai Indians is the best wicketkeeper in India after wt i have seen in IPL

Dhonis keeping is very underrated . I agree Takawale is good , but hes not even picked for the Mumbai team ...cant bat !

[saneindian]

nope ' date='Sahas keeping is quite avg ..even I would have preferred PP over Saha & am not a big a fan of Parthiv either[/quote'] Let's see how he does if given a chance. Though I have nothing against DK or PP, both have shown that their keeping skills haven't improved despite being away from team india. So nothing wrong in trying your next best talent which IMO Saha definitely is cos he is ahead of the pack of Uday Kaul(Punjab), Puneet Bisht(Delhi), Naman Ojha (MP) etc. One guy who may well be soon kncoking for a team India place is CM Gauatm, the Karnataka keeper. Bats well and is a very very good keeper. One to watch out for.

[Feed]

SA hope to start Indian tour on high Aiming to reclaim their numero uno status in the ICC Test ranking, South Africa will start their tour of India when they take on Board President's XI in a two-day practice match commencing in Nagpur on Tuesday. More... SA hope to start Indian tour on high February 01, 2010 17:05 IST Aiming to reclaim their numero uno status in the ICC Test ranking, South Africa will start their tour of India when they take on Board President's XI in a two-day practice match commencing in Nagpur on Tuesday. Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma will lead the President's XI in the match before the two-Test series, in which a 2-0 win will ensure that the Proteas replace India on top of the ICC Test ranking. South Africa was recently wrecked by a controversy when Mickey Arthur stepped down as coach citing differences with the cricket board last week. The entire selection committee, headed by former all-rounder Mike Procter, was also sacked following a 1-1 draw with England at home series. Graeme Smith's men, however, would try to leave these bitter memories behind and go all out to regain the top spot in Test rankings. National high performance coach Corrie Van Zyl has been appointed as the interim coach for the visitors for the Indian tour which also includes a three-match ODI series. On the other hand, young Indian players like paceman Abhimanyu Mithun, who have already got a call into the Test squad, Manpreet Gony and Shikhar Dhawan would also like to prove their mettle in the match. It will also be a test for Rohit and Piyush Chawla [ Images ] to reclaim their spot in the Indian squad after being in and out of the team for sometime. Teams (from): South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Alviro Petersen, Mark Boucher, Paul Harris, Johan Botha, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. President's XI: Rohit Sharma (capt), Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane , Manish Pandey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhishek Nayar, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Manpreet Gony.

[urbestfriend]

Board president XI vs South Africa - 2nd Feb to 3rd Feb -Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur Saffers are going to start their Indian tour with this match. Waiting to see how our bench strength fares against International team. Specially excited to see how our fast bowlers Mithun, Yadav and VK performs. Go BP-XI :two_thumbs_up:

[Yantra]

Yes, it will be exiting to see our bench strength fast bowlers, I would love to see Umesh Yadav and Mithun in action, I have heard about Both of them is quite fast, did somebody sees how Umesh Yadav bowls, how is his action, what speed, how is he built etc...?

[sm332]

Yes, it will be exiting to see our bench strength fast bowlers, I would love to see Umesh Yadav and Mithun in action, I have heard about Both of them is quite fast, did somebody sees how Umesh Yadav bowls, how is his action, what speed, how is he built etc...?

Is this being broadcast?

[diegovegaz]

Is this being broadcast?

neo cricket will be showing the duleep trophy, live so i don't think the warm up game would be

[thevortex]

nope ' date='Sahas keeping is quite avg ..even I would have preferred PP over Saha & am not a big a fan of Parthiv either[/quote'] Actually Saha is a very athletic keeper on the lines of Karthik. Lets see how he does. Parthiv is not a natural keeper. But then so is Dhoni and see how well he has done. So there are arguments both ways. Simply put the selectors have selected the younger man. Not that Parthiv is too old. I am hopeful that a couple of these experiments may bear some fruit.

[thevortex]

Another important Test in an out of the way location. When will BCCI learn? Why do they continue to ignore centres like Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai? Politicking should not extend to this. Its a shame. The other blunder is having South Africa play a practice game at Nagpur and then have the first Test too at the same location. This means that they would have had a feel of the ground and the general nature of the pitch - even if a different square is to be used for the Test match. The Indians who dont feature in the Board President's XI will not have had a feel of that wicket. Home conditions or not, this is an advantage we need not have given them. Yes, I know, scheduling is tight but still...

[thevortex]

Nobody is arguing he is as talented as anyone going around. But peoples' reservation about his test credentials are not just because of his suspect technique against the short-ball, but to a certain degree, his shot-selection which seems inherently 'un-suited' to test cricket. Look, we all know most batsmen have some flaw in their technique or the other, unless of course you're a master-craftsmen like Dravid. But I have my doubts over Raina's temperament as well. Come to think of it, how does he make most of his runs in ODIs? He's part scrambler and part shock therapist. He will nudge the ball into the gaps most times and suddently, out of the blue, he will either step out to loft the bowler or stay at the crease and simply mow a length ball over the mid-wicket. That kind of batting may very be quite effective in ODIs and T20, but tests? You cannot look to be 'busy' when you're team is 120/4 in the 2nd session of day 1 when you're team's in trouble. Does Raina have the ability to look 'ugly' and play out a session where he scores only 30-35 runs? He will look to score and unfortunately, most of prolific scoring shots in ODIs are calculated, but extremely well taken risks. This is where guys like Kohli and Rohit score over him. They too are aggressive, but they dont have to manufacture shots like Raina does, to push along the scoring. Raina is a damn good player, but he still has a long way to go before he pushes for a test spot.

I agree with many of the points you have made here. A part of the problem also lies with Dhoni and the batting order he has for ODIs where he walks out ahead of Raina letting the latter deal in biffs and blows exclusively. That is one area where he can gain experience and the game to play long overs. That apart I still think he is among the top guys to replace our senior brigade - notwithstanding Rohit Sharma. That lad has all the strokes but really no semblance of a temperament. Actually Raina showed his maturity even in the recent 100 that he got against Sri Lanka when we were in dire straits. I dont think either Kohli or Sharma have the game or the maturity to bat out that sort of a period.

[Chandan]

Another important Test in an out of the way location. When will BCCI learn? Why do they continue to ignore centres like Kolkata' date=' Bangalore and Chennai? Politicking should not extend to this. Its a shame.[/quote'] Fail to understand what you're saying here. Aren't we playing the second test of this series at Edens? It was the matter where who could get ready quickly for the test match as it was decided quite late. Everyone has praised the facility at the new stadium in Nagpur. So can't see how Nagpur and Eden are bad choice for test matches!

The other blunder is having South Africa play a practice game at Nagpur and then have the first Test too at the same location. This means that they would have had a feel of the ground and the general nature of the pitch - even if a different square is to be used for the Test match. The Indians who dont feature in the Board President's XI will not have had a feel of that wicket. Home conditions or not, this is an advantage we need not have given them. Yes, I know, scheduling is tight but still...

Both the matches are not played at the same ground. BP XI match is getting played at the old Vidarbha stadium in Nagpur while the test will be played at the new Vidarbha stadium which is 15 kms away from the main town of Nagpur and hence tests don't attract crowd here as it is too taxing to travel 15 km before 9 in the morning for five days to watch a test match.

[saneindian]

The other blunder is having South Africa play a practice game at Nagpur and then have the first Test too at the same location. This means that they would have had a feel of the ground and the general nature of the pitch - even if a different square is to be used for the Test match. The Indians who dont feature in the Board President's XI will not have had a feel of that wicket. Home conditions or not, this is an advantage we need not have given them. Yes, I know, scheduling is tight but still...

The SA cricket board had very clearly wanted least amount of travel after landing in Mumbai and between the first test. So the BCCI proposed a center with two international class stadiums, Nagpur was a perfect fit. Mohali could have been another option but given the cold weather of North India, there would have been hardly any time to prepare the pitch for the test.

[Ram]

Hopefully, our guys win the toss and bat as loooooooooooong as possible. South Africa would be absolutely DESPERATE for their batsmen to have a decent hit out in the middle and we should do everything possible to deny them that chance. The best possible outcome for us would be for the BP XI to win the toss, bat first, bat for a day a and half, score 450 runs and declare with 40 overs left in the day. In that, if they can pick up 4-5 South African wickets, that will make even better. Ideal scoreline at the end of day 2; BP XI - 452/8 declared. South Africa - 145-5

[urbestfriend]

^^ Why do we have to deny them their batting practice? These tour matches are scheduled for visitors to acclimatise to the condition, we dont have to stoop to such levels to deny them practice. What are we going to achieve with that?

[Sachinism]

neo cricket will be showing the duleep trophy, live so i don't think the warm up game would be

:(( I was planning on waking up at 4:30 find a stream

[The Outsider]

^^ Why do we have to deny them their batting practice? These tour matches are scheduled for visitors to acclimatise to the condition' date=' we dont have to stoop to such levels to deny them practice. What are we going to achieve with that?[/quote'] :laugh: Deny them batting practice? What is it, a freaking net session? It's a first class match and no home side gives "batting practice" to the touring side! Some comments really crack me up.

[h4te]

Hopefully, our guys win the toss and bat as loooooooooooong as possible. South Africa would be absolutely DESPERATE for their batsmen to have a decent hit out in the middle and we should do everything possible to deny them that chance. The best possible outcome for us would be for the BP XI to win the toss, bat first, bat for a day a and half, score 450 runs and declare with 40 overs left in the day. In that, if they can pick up 4-5 South African wickets, that will make even better. Ideal scoreline at the end of day 2; BP XI - 452/8 declared. South Africa - 145-5

well, ideally we bat first and score 500/2 declare in 1.75 days. then, SA is 30 a.o. and we enforce follow-on and SA is 21 a.o. and we win the match.

[urbestfriend]

:laugh: Deny them batting practice? What is it, a freaking net session? It's a first class match and no home side gives "batting practice" to the touring side! Some comments really crack me up.

Its no first class match mate ! I say again,2 day tour matches are no first class matches, sometimes even played with 12 players each side, in order to give some match practice to visitors. Ideally whichever team bats first, they declare after 3 or 4 session in order to give other team a chance to bat. Ofcourse no one prevents from a team to bat all sessions, but this is against spirit.