SA Test squad to face India

[Sachin=GOD]

well well well guys can any1 tell me where did INDIA win a test series outside Asia in Last 2YRS A part frrom NZ ???????? Please guys accept the truth INDIA is gonna struggle in all ways of cricket wether batting/bowling/fielding. SA is better in all aspects of the game and INDIA is playing in their own backyard where they r born and know every bit of their weather and pitches. On a lively wicket INDIA can bowl better yes but SA can bowl better than INDIA as they are much familier to those conditions. Even if IND draw this series its like WIN for them and this is the real deal INDIA now need to prove that they r NO.1 only by winning this series in SA other wise everyone knows INDIA is at NO.1 oonly bcoz they did not play outside ASIA these 2yrs.

there's also the little matter of a batting line up of Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Sachin, VVS, Dhoni, Raina/Pujara which IMO is stronger than SA.

[saneindian]

Among those I would say, steyn>donald>pollock>morkel =Ntini. And Kallis is still there. So basically, if they can get 1 more class bowler out of ParnellTsotsobeDeWet their bowling would be as strong as past , perhaps.

Ntini and Morkel at the same level? In 2006, Ntini was among the best pacers in the world and in SA he was perhaps an even better bowler than Pollock!! Morkel is yet to reach those highs unless of course if he gets a bowler friendly track. In 2001, besides Pollock, SA had Hayward and Klusener with Ntini as a 4th seamer. In 1997, they had Donald, Pollock, Klusener and with Mcmillan and Cronje's nagging line and length bowling as 4th and 5th options! Those attacks IMO were far superior to what a combo of Steyn+Morkel+Tsotsobe/Parnell/Dewet will offer.

[vaibhav_delhi]

Ntini and Morkel at the same level? In 2006, Ntini was among the best pacers in the world and in SA he was perhaps an even better bowler than Pollock!! Morkel is yet to reach those highs unless of course if he gets a bowler friendly track. In 2001, besides Pollock, SA had Hayward and Klusener with Ntini as a 4th seamer. In 1997, they had Donald, Pollock, Klusener and with Mcmillan and Cronje's nagging line and length bowling as 4th and 5th options! Those attacks IMO were far superior to what a combo of Steyn+Morkel+Tsotsobe/Parnell/Dewet will offer.

you are right i guess. Ntini was better than Morkel. But Morkel can be dangerous too. I feel current indian batting would have fancied their chances even against donald,pollock,Ntini. I feel their current attack is sharper than before(in terms of pace and bounce). Morkel lacks imagination though and seems somewhat uni dimensional.

[Lord]

I also think they should have Botha insted of Harris,atleast he can bat better

[ZodiaC]

Among those I would say' date=' steyn>donald>pollock>[b']morkel =Ntini. And Kallis is still there. So basically, if they can get 1 more class bowler out of ParnellTsotsobeDeWet their bowling would be as strong as past , perhaps.

Dude WTF :hysterical::hysterical: Donald>Pollock>Steyn>Ntini>Morkel

[ZodiaC]

I also think they should have Botha insted of Harris' date='atleast he can bat better[/quote'] Yep, they are still sticking with harris because he can bowl at a better eco rate (desperate times:giggle:). Botha is more attacking and the better option IMO, though it shouldn't really matter.

[vaibhav_delhi]

Dude WTF :hysterical::hysterical: Donald>Pollock>Steyn>Ntini>Morkel

lol why not ntini>pollock>donald>steyn>morkel or whatever the total wickets taken order is?

[jibranpatel15]

South Africa Announce Their Squad For 1st Test To Play India At Centurion CHEVROLET KNIGHTS’ all-rounder Ryan McLaren has been added to the Proteas’ Castle Test squad for the opening five-day match against India to be played at SuperSport Park from December 16. Cricket South Africa (CSA) selection convener Andrew Hudson on Friday announced a squad of 15 for the first of three matches that includes McLaren plus the 14 players who formed the squad for the two Tests against Pakistan. “We want to keep the squad together that played against Pakistan,” commented Hudson. “McLaren has impressed in both formats of the domestic game played so far this season and has also come back into our thinking.” McLaren made his Test debut in the final match against England in January this year. Hudson added that the latest reports from CSA’s Medical Committee concerning the fitness of captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla had been ‘very positive’. “We are expecting both of them to be fit to take their places.” South Africa's Test squad: Graeme Smith©,Hashim Amla,Johan Botha,Mark Boucher(wk),AB de Villiers,JP Duminy,Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis,Ryan McLaren,Morne Morkel,Wayne Parnell,Alviro Petersen,Ashwell Prince,Dale Steyn,Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

[jibranpatel15]

not bad move from CSA by picking mclaren 1st he's n all rounder who bowls well when ball swings and wickt to wicket bowler add his batting ability to that not sure what they think of fredel de wet and Imran Tahir a leg spinner born in Pakistan i think u will see him sooner in SA colours he's real talent this guy is Tahir. I still stay with my statement that they should have gone with van der wath. Even today in semi final he has scored 24 off 10 balls including 20 runs off last over and picked up 2 wickets at the start si Andrew Hudson please man think about him if u see this anywhere.

[Serani]

Ryan McLaren is useless, was playing for one of my local club sides 4 years ago and now somehow finds himself around the SA team, mediocre cricketer.

[kabira]

IF he is mediocre then we are in trouble. Mediocres tend to do well against us

[fineleg]

I think parnell/tsotsobe will be chosen ahead of Mclaren in the 11

[maniac]

I guess a 4 stringed pace attack of Steyn,Morkel,Totsobe,Parnell along with added services of Kallis would be pretty handful on those tracks. I am not sure if Maclaren will get a chance is all the above mentioned are fit enough. I am worried more about players like Alviro peterson and JP Duminy as often ignored players like that spring surprises against us.

[kabira]

^YEs if you have openrs like Hafeez, Taufiq and sucky middle order you need to fear them. Not us...

[Chandan]

Tests will be played at Centurian, Durban and Cape-Town. If I'm not wrong, out of these three venues, only Durban has a genuine bouncy track and the other two are pretty good batting tracks with Cape Town assisting spinners on the final day. Even if SA goes with green-tops, they won't abandon the spinner in their XI. Now whether it'll be Harris or Botha, only time will be tell, but one of them will certainly be there. I still think that we need to decide on our #6 bat in the XI. That is the only questionmark for us right now.

[putrevus]

SA has one of strongest batting lineups in the world and our batting lineup are prone to collapses overseas , unless our batting comes good we don't stand any chance.

[Sachin=GOD]

SA has one of strongest batting lineups in the world and our batting lineup are prone to collapses overseas ' date=' unless our batting comes good we don't stand any chance.[/quote'] batting will be our strong point in SA, mark my words. Indian batting is stronger than SA batting and it will be our bowling that is for me the worrying factor in SA.

[jibranpatel15]

Frankly India need to worry more about BOWLING and not BATTING. Yes batting is a bit of worrieble but not big worry as BOWLING is. In BATTING Sehwag,Dravid,Sachin,Laxman are there for worry is Gambhir n Raina together with Dhoni. on the other hand SA also have worry but not as much as INDIA. They need to worry for Pieterson n Prince(if they play him). Bowling is preety much settled and bonus is Kallis as he is more useful bowler as he nearly approaching 300 wkts. SACHIN'S form will be more dependent on the result of the series as we saw against NZ he didn't even score 100 runs in 6 INNS.

[Feed]

Smith, Amla cleared to play More... Smith, Amla cleared to play 2010-12-13 Johannesburg - Proteas' captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla have been cleared to play for South Africa in the three-Test series against India starting at Centurion on Thursday. "Graeme’s hand is good. Doctors have cleared him and he’s ready to go," coach Corrie van Zyl said on Monday. "He’s confident and looking forward to this week’s preparation. We just hope that we can get out there and prepare. "Hashim seems to be fine and started his preparations last week," he said. The ring finger on Smith's left hand was broken while batting in the first ODI against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in November. Amla was struck on the left wrist while fielding in the last day of the second Test against Pakistan. Van Zyl said on Monday that he would be stupid to underestimate the Indian bowling attack even though they would be playing in less familiar conditions. There has been much hype about the pace and bounce of the wickets in South Africa and how this will favour the South African seamers rather than the Indian bowling attack. "We’re not going to give them turning tracks here. That’s not going to happen, but we would be stupid to underestimate the Indian bowlers," said Van Zyl. "We’re going to play on wickets which are going to benefit our style of play, but it is one thing playing on them, it’s another thing executing." India are ranked number one on the ICC's Test rankings, but have not yet won a Test series in South Africa. Much is expected from players like Sachin Tendulkar, who will be seeking his 50th Test century on this tour; Rahul Dravid, who boasts a Test average of 53.31; and the aggressive Virender Sehwag, who averages 54.71. Van Zyl said the South Africans are not focusing on these stars. "It’s an excellent Indian team which comes to our shores, but as far as individuals are concerned, if you’re talking about a very good Indian team, then you can’t single out individuals. "They’re not number one because of one individual, they’re number one because they’re a very good unit. "If we’re going to look at one or two individuals we’re going to miss the boat here. "We’re making sure that we’re not focused on one individual. We’re preparing for the whole Indian team," he said. Pre-match preparations for the first Test have been marred by wet weather, which has made it difficult to practice outdoors. "We put in place specific plans for all the players who weren’t involved in the MTN finals to work with their franchise coaches," said Van Zyl. "The idea was that we wanted to have a week off after the Pakistan series to refresh, but at the same time also be ready for the practice week. "Yesterday we got together and did the planning session and obviously we wanted to start working today, but it’s not happening the way we wanted it to happen (because of the weather)." He said some members of the Indian team arrived last week and had been practising in Cape Town to familiarise themselves with the local conditions. "This Indian team is not number one in the Test rankings for nothing," said Van Zyl. "They’ve played very good cricket over the last couple of years and that’s why they’re number one. "However, playing in South Africa under very different conditions is something else and that’s one of the reasons they came a bit earlier to get used to the conditions," he said. In the end, it would be all about the execution. "Obviously, the South African team is mindful of the Indian team. It’s a very good team and, if we think the Indian team doesn’t have a bowling attack that can bowl well on bouncy wickets, then we are mistaken. "Again, it’s about who handles the pace and the bounce best. That’s what’s important and what we will see by the end of the Test series."

[saneindian]

Botha, Parnell and Duminy out of first Test South Africa squad for first Test: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Alviro Petersen, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wk), Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Paul Harris, Lonwabo Tsotsobe/Ryan McLaren This SA squad is a little different from the previous SA teams that we have played in SA. Two apparent weaknesses this team has are 1. A struggling number 6 2. A long tail (even though Harris is decent enough bat) Now we will need to capitalise on these two. In many a tests in SA, we got the top order cheaply but then lower middle order used to fire and take SA to a strong position. The likes of Mcmillan and Pollock have hurt us so many times. Hopefully this time that will not be the case. Even the bowling combination to me looks a little lighter compared to previous attacks. Donald, Schultz, Devillers and Mcmillan in 92 or Donald, Pollock, Devilliers and Mcmillan in 96 or Donald, Pollock, Ntini and Hayward in 2001 or Pollock, Ntini, Morkel, Steyn in 2006 were far better attacks than Steyn, Morkel and Tsotsobe/Mclaren. The current attack will be threatening on bowler friendly pitches, on normal wickets, Morkel and Tsotsobe/Mclaren remain untested. Add to this our batting strength and perhas the best pace bowling attack to have travelled to SA ever. We are with a decent shout here. Our weaknesses will be a struggling no 6 and the form of our leading spinner. Hopefully Raina and Bhajji get back into their groove and will have a good tour.