Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The boy with the golden arm: Indian Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the ball talk on Day 1 of second Test against Australia

[saneindian]

Zaheer has an old history of groin, ankle and shoulder problem. Even at his peak in 2007-11, he missed so many matches due to those problems. A list of injuries he has had 2011- v England in England - Missed all 4 tests due to a groin problem Tests Missed: 4 2011 - v West Indies in West Indies - Was rehabilitating from right ankle problem. Tests missed: 3 2010-11 - v South Africa in South Africa - Missed the first Test due to hamstring injury, but played in next two. Tests missed: 1 2010-11 - v New Zealand in India - Missed the last of three Tests because of groin strain. Tests missed: 1 2010 - v Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka - Missed the tour because of shoulder injury. Tests missed: 3 2007-08 - v South Africa in India - Missed the series because of ankle injury. Tests missed: 3 2007-08 - v Australia in Australia - Dropped out of team ahead of Sydney Test with an ankle injury. Tests missed: 3 2007-08 - v Pakistan in India - Missed the third Test because of ankle injury. Tests missed: 1 We lost 2 series, vs England at home and vs Australia in Aus despite having him. With another loss likely in SA, better to lose with younger pacers who at least have a future.

[rkt.india]

That is precisely the point- Zaheer has 8 months to prove his fitness. I think we have a 'Craig McDermott' situation with Zaheer- he cannot finish an entire series anymore' date='atleast i dont think so but he can play the 2 tests in a row/3 outta 4 situations still. .[/quote'] He has not played 2 FC matches in a row yet and which he played even in them he used to spend a lot of time out of the ground.

[Fontaine]

South African batsmen were born and bred on swing and seam bowling. BK isn't going to pose a real challenge to them unless he really makes strides and improves a huge amount.

[rkt.india]

South African batsmen were born and bred on swing and seam bowling. BK isn't going to pose a real challenge to them unless he really makes strides and improves a huge amount.

131 all out, 84 all out, under 100 all out against Australia they all are South African scores. Every batsman struggle if bowling is good and conditions are helping seam bowling.

[Fontaine]

131 all out' date=' 84 all out, under 100 all out against Australia they all are South African scores. Every batsman struggle if bowling is good and conditions are helping seam bowling.[/quote'] Yeah, except I never said anything about Australia's bowling attack, unless you somehow think comparing BK with an Aussie Bowling attack is relevant. He's just played one test where he bowled well and already people (not you rkt) are tripping over themselves to crown him. Same thing happens with almost every young Indian pace bowler. Quick to jump on the band wagon and quicker to jump off.

[rkt.india]

Yeah, except I never said anything about Australia's bowling attack, unless you somehow think comparing BK with an Aussie Bowling attack is relevant. He's just played one test where he bowled well and already people (not you rkt) are tripping over themselves to crown him. Same thing happens with almost every young Indian pace bowler. Quick to jump on the band wagon and quicker to jump off.

one bowler alone is not going to make much difference. We need all three pacers to be able to contribute. Team management needs to have a plan and prepare a pace bowling unit for SA tour, have 7-8 bowlers who have virtues in them to perform in SA conditions and choose 5 fit bowlers out of them, as plenty of time is still left.

[The Outsider]

Yeah, except I never said anything about Australia's bowling attack, unless you somehow think comparing BK with an Aussie Bowling attack is relevant.

84 and 131 all out were against the Indian attack not Australian.

[CSK Fan]

Which balls are you talking about? CB series 2008? If so' date=' that wasn't the case.[/quote'] Yes. CB series finals, he got Ponting out both times going for the pull.

[saneindian]

one bowler alone is not going to make much difference. We need all three pacers to be able contribute. Team management needs have a plan and prepare a pace bowling unit for SA tour' date= have 7-8 bowlers who virtues in them to perform in SA conditions and choose 5 out of them, as plenty of time is still left.

Exatly. before the last SA tour, with Zaheer, Sree and Ishant in the attack, I thought we had our best bowling attack ever in SA. Ishant was clueless and Sreesanth was in a poor fitness and lacked rhythm barring a couple of spells. Despite that we came close to beat the Saffers only to be denied by a Kallis masterclass.

[rkt.india]

Exatly. before the last SA tour' date=' with Zaheer, Sree and Ishant in the attack, I thought we had our best bowling attack ever in SA. Ishant was clueless and Sreesanth was in a poor fitness and lacked rhythm barring a couple of spells. [b']Despite that we came close to beat the Saffers only to be denied by a Kallis masterclass.

I would rather say our bowlers lost steam at the most crucial time and they let Boucher, Morkel, and Styen to score and have partnerships with Kallis. Regarding bowlers, only Zak and to an extent Sreesanth did well. Ishant was completely out of sorts struggling with his action and rhythm and the same thing is happening with him now too and he needs to be dropped ASAP.

[Laaloo]

Kallis and Dhoni masterclass :agree:

[The Outsider]

Kallis and Dhoni masterclass :agree:

And Bhajji masterclass when he started firing darts to an injured Kallis as soon as he was reverse swept from outside off. :agree:

[G_B_]

I would rather say our bowlers lost steam at the most crucial time and they let Boucher, Morkel, and Styen to score and have partnerships with Kallis. Regarding bowlers, only Zak and to an extent Sreesanth did well. Ishant was completely out of sorts struggling with his action and rhythm and the same thing is happening with him now too and he needs to be dropped ASAP.

+1

[G_B_]

and for god sake lets have 2-3 warm ups. Last time i remember we touched down a few days before the first test and were hammered.

[Crookbond]

and for god sake lets have 2-3 warm ups. Last time i remember we touched down a few days before the first test and were hammered.

The Test specialist players like Dravid, Laxman arrived early though.

[saneindian]

Kallis and Dhoni masterclass :agree:

We could have won despite the Dhoni masterclass but Kallis killed all our chances.

[G_B_]

The Test specialist players like Dravid' date=' Laxman arrived early though.[/quote'] thats still no excuse. so basically 3-4 players out of the starting 11 arrived early. Australia made the same mistake this tour. One warm up for their main side. England on the other hand played a series of warm ups

[Crookbond]

thats still no excuse. so basically 3-4 players out of the starting 11 arrived early. Australia made the same mistake this tour. One warm up for their main side. England on the other hand played a series of warm ups

How many warm up games did South Africa play before the England tour 2011? You're right that warm ups and acclimatization is necessary but it shouldn't be emphasized more than needed (media) or lesser than needed (like the BCCI does).

[NareshK]

and for god sake lets have 2-3 warm ups. Last time i remember we touched down a few days before the first test and were hammered.

Warm ups are basically to make small adjustments to their game play according to the conditions. If the players dont have the basics or the technique to play well in those conditions, its not going to help much. That's why players who have previous experience in the conditions dont need to play many warm up games even though its better to play than not to. SA played only 1 warm up game in Australia before they won the series IIRC and Michael Clarke didnt play any warm up before this test series and yet he is the joint highest run getter in this series.

[saneindian]

Warm ups will be especially important this time. We will have so many batsmen and bowlers who have never played tests in SA. Till the time we had the big 4 with considerable SA experience, we could go in with just 1 warm up match, no longer the case with a younger squad. Hopefully the uselss 7 ODIs and 2 T20 series vs Aus prior to SA series is cut down to 5 ODIs and 2 T20s giving the team an extra week in SA.