India A tour of South Africa, 2013

[Chandan]

There used to be similar interest in the Emerging Players Tournament (only 'A' tour in the last few years ) as well in 2009, 2010, 2011 2011 http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=268174&highlight=emerging 2010 http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=230894&highlight=emerging 2009 http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=165930&highlight=emerging

We always had huge interest in A tours whenever and wherever that took place. It gives us a good account of of our second string players and that is very important for any team. This is a time when we need to know about our players even more as all of our senior batsmen have retired and how will these young batsmen perform outside home, we do not know. Apart from that, even the bowling unit is quite inexperienced. The experienced fast bowler has gone down and established spinner hasn't performed away from home. So all in all, the entire team is new, especially away from home, no one is proven. So the interest has to be there in these A tours as to who proves himself in this tour. But the Pretoria track is not letting that happen. There is no point if anyone proves himself on a dead flat track. That he can do at Rajkot too, no? What is the difference?

[Sooda]

The 4 day games are going to be the real test. Raina is carting these guys around for fun, waste of time for him

[cowboysfan]

The 4 day games are going to be the real test. Raina is carting these guys around for fun' date=' waste of time for him[/quote'] not really,they will be played at the same venue on real flat wickets.

[CSK Fan]

For Bleed Blue

[Sooda]

not really' date='they will be played at the same venue on real flat wickets.[/quote'] They might play here... http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/630761.html

[FischerTal]

They might play here... http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/630761.html

:agree: 2nd test is on this pretoria patta

[rkt.india]

They might play here... http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/630761.html

Even here 8 wickets in second innings were taken by a spinner, off spinner Steven Harmer. Only first innings had something in it for pacers.

[adityac3688]

dsr' date=' Cook is an established player with away tours under his belt. Pujara is a novice when it comes to away tours.[/quote'] Yes, But Pujara has enough experience to play in the original Format. Cook has been playing for a long time + Ashes which is a great workout for Test Cricket while Pujara is left in List A and First Class Cricket, But Pujara has earned a lot of experience playing in these few tests, Earning a double century once as well! Which is great news for the Indians! :two_thumbs_up:

[adityac3688]

The 4 day games are going to be the real test. Raina is carting these guys around for fun' date=' waste of time for him[/quote'] Are you serious? He got out in a single digit score last match against South Africa A, And he's a bit out of form as well, This Tri-Series can maybe help him find his form and play better! He is a well experienced fielder and is a beauty at the slips, But his batting needs a bit of work i'd say :beee:

[adityac3688]

Bowling looks weak as heck. Scary to think that this is our next crop of bowling talent... I would have put Umesh in there. Batting is strong. Vijay and Rahane should be fighting for a spot. Though Vijay is in poor form now, lets not forget that his last test series he was an absolute beast. Glad that they sent Shikhar. Though he has been playing non stop it is absolutely vital that he gets some exposure in SA. If we want any chance of success then it is essential that Shikhar clicks and can see off Steyn and co with the new ball. Vijay Shikhar Pujara KD Rahane Rayudu Looks strong!

I second what he said, I really can't believe such a weak bowling attack will be the future of Indian Cricket, We could've had Bhajji in here giving him a bit of training, Since he's a good offbreaker, And we could've used a bit of Umesh here as well! The Team needs a lot of changes to get to a normal pace game or the bowling lineup can cause lots of disasters!

[Bleed-Blue]

[jj_28]

India will always be a batting nation but we have a good spin department and are probably the best fielding unit right now which gives our fast bowling some leeway We have two good bowlers in Bhuvi and Umesh we just need to keep them fit and find a good group of bowlers to supplement them whenever needed

[Chandan]

http://goo.gl/18qqP6 Duminy, Parnell trial for Tests ESPNcricinfo staff August 13, 2013 JP Duminy and Wayne Parnell have been given opportunities to push for Test recalls after being included in South Africa's A-team to play their Indian counterparts in two four-day matches this month. Duminy has not played a Test since rupturing his Achilles' tendon in November last year, while Parnell has not featured for South Africa in over three years. Neither player will have any doubt that they are on trial, as Duminy will effectively be going toe-to-toe with Dean Elgar for the No.7 position in the batting line-up, while Parnell will be looking to push himself ahead of Rory Kleinveldt, Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange for the reserve bowler's spot. Duminy's chances of featuring in the Test side would seem higher, having already established himself in the batting line-up with a century against New Zealand on his comeback in March 2012, and making handy lower-middle order contributions during last year's tour of England. He was also part of the team which prevailed in Australia in December last year, and was due to take on a bigger role as an offspinner, but could not take part in the match after the first day as he suffered an injury. A six-month rehabilitation program saw Duminy miss the entire summer, which gave Faf du Plessis an opportunity to shine, as the latter emulated Duminy's series-winning century at the MCG in 2008-09, with a match-saving 110 of his own, that earned him the right to a sustained run with the senior team. If Duminy were to make a comeback, it would most likely be at the expense of left-arm batsman Dean Elgar, who had staked his own claim in the side with an impressive 268 against Australia A in Pretoria. Parnell, on the other hand, will only be battling for a spot on the bench, even as Vincent Barnes, the high performance manager and coach of South Africa A, told ESPNCricinfo that Parnell is "back to his best" after battling through groin and leg injuries recently. Parnell, who bowled particularly well at the death in the Twenty20 matches during the tour of Sri Lanka, has now been earmarked for the longer version as well. "Wayne came through the Sri Lanka tour without any injury setbacks so he has now been added to the squad. He has had a lot of injury problems and needs to play as much four-day cricket as possible," Barnes said. Impressive performances from Parnell could see him preferred over a long line of back-up bowlers. Kleinveldt is one of them and he was also due to play in this series, but a severe cut on his toe has ruled him out. He played only one match in Sri Lanka which he finished with a bloodied boot because of a gash that re-opened. De Lange is also injured after picking up a rib niggle during the matches against Australia A, and will be monitored closely as the new season approaches. As a result, Abbott is likely to be Parnell's only competition and as both are playing in the series, seemingly for the same spot, it has given a whole new interesting dimension to the upcoming matches. ------------------------------------------------------- SA A is taking the A FC matches very seriously while Indian bowlers are so weak that hardly anything will be proved there. I fail to understand why Mohit Sharma was not chosen and are are these 3-4 seamers our next best seamers? If that is so, we are doomed!

[cowboysfan]

http://goo.gl/18qqP6 Duminy, Parnell trial for Tests ESPNcricinfo staff August 13, 2013 JP Duminy and Wayne Parnell have been given opportunities to push for Test recalls after being included in South Africa's A-team to play their Indian counterparts in two four-day matches this month. Duminy has not played a Test since rupturing his Achilles' tendon in November last year, while Parnell has not featured for South Africa in over three years. Neither player will have any doubt that they are on trial, as Duminy will effectively be going toe-to-toe with Dean Elgar for the No.7 position in the batting line-up, while Parnell will be looking to push himself ahead of Rory Kleinveldt, Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange for the reserve bowler's spot. Duminy's chances of featuring in the Test side would seem higher, having already established himself in the batting line-up with a century against New Zealand on his comeback in March 2012, and making handy lower-middle order contributions during last year's tour of England. He was also part of the team which prevailed in Australia in December last year, and was due to take on a bigger role as an offspinner, but could not take part in the match after the first day as he suffered an injury. A six-month rehabilitation program saw Duminy miss the entire summer, which gave Faf du Plessis an opportunity to shine, as the latter emulated Duminy's series-winning century at the MCG in 2008-09, with a match-saving 110 of his own, that earned him the right to a sustained run with the senior team. If Duminy were to make a comeback, it would most likely be at the expense of left-arm batsman Dean Elgar, who had staked his own claim in the side with an impressive 268 against Australia A in Pretoria. Parnell, on the other hand, will only be battling for a spot on the bench, even as Vincent Barnes, the high performance manager and coach of South Africa A, told ESPNCricinfo that Parnell is "back to his best" after battling through groin and leg injuries recently. Parnell, who bowled particularly well at the death in the Twenty20 matches during the tour of Sri Lanka, has now been earmarked for the longer version as well. "Wayne came through the Sri Lanka tour without any injury setbacks so he has now been added to the squad. He has had a lot of injury problems and needs to play as much four-day cricket as possible," Barnes said. Impressive performances from Parnell could see him preferred over a long line of back-up bowlers. Kleinveldt is one of them and he was also due to play in this series, but a severe cut on his toe has ruled him out. He played only one match in Sri Lanka which he finished with a bloodied boot because of a gash that re-opened. De Lange is also injured after picking up a rib niggle during the matches against Australia A, and will be monitored closely as the new season approaches. As a result, Abbott is likely to be Parnell's only competition and as both are playing in the series, seemingly for the same spot, it has given a whole new interesting dimension to the upcoming matches. ------------------------------------------------------- SA A is taking the A FC matches very seriously while Indian bowlers are so weak that hardly anything will be proved there. I fail to understand why Mohit Sharma was not chosen and are are these 3-4 seamers our next best seamers? If that is so, we are doomed!

I am not sure if you are kidding.every bowler (from all three countries) have been hit out of the park on this flat wicket and small ground,we just cannot evaluate any player(even Dhawan) on these kind of wickets.

[Bleed-Blue]

Final run feast on flat surface Big Picture It looked an excellent plan on paper. Send your fringe players, and a few first-choice batsmen, to South Africa on an A tour three months before the senior side travels to the country. Ideally, far better preparation than any camp in home conditions would have been. The main course - the two unofficial Tests - are yet to arrive, but going by what has happened in the one-day tri-series, India A haven't missed home much. The pitch at the LC de Villiers Oval in Pretoria has been so flat the South Africa A captain Justin Ontong has been left hoping for some grass on the wickets for the unofficial Tests. Given that one of them will be played on the same ground, Ontong might as well put in a prayer along with hoping. India A have not experienced what the senior team management might have wanted them to, but they have done what they usually do on such pitches back home. The batsmen have prospered, the bowlers have suffered. In their defence, the other sides have fared similarly. Barring the opening match, the side batting first has scored big and won, although the biggest margin has been only 39 runs. India A have made 291 and 285 and still lost, both times to Australia A. They have also shown off their batting firepower as they often do in one-dayers in benign conditions, plundering 309 in 38 overs against South Africa A. Shikhar Dhawan's astonishing 248 helped them to 433 against the same opposition. However, it is Australia A, and not the hosts, who await India A in the final. They are the only side to chase successfully in this series. They then went ahead and defended successfully from a seemingly lost cause as India A choked. Just like their opponents in the final, Australia A have several international players, who will be eyeing selection for the limited-overs leg of the senior side's dismal England tour. "Hopefully some of the performances coming off the back of this tour have got some guys in there," Aaron Finch, the Australia A captain, said. "Some of the guys definitely have their fingers crossed." Unlike India A, they can claim their workout in South Africa has been ideal, and timely. In the spotlight Suresh Raina has been India A's most economical bowler. While all the batsmen are internationals, India A have come with an inexperienced bowling attack. The spinners are yet to play for the senior side, as are two of the fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat are raw in international cricket. All of them have been expensive, but Ishwar Pandey came in for praise from the coach Lalchand Rajput in his only match of the series. Rajput said Pandey came back strongly after an expensive opening spell against South Africa A to bowl several yorkers at the death and pick up four wickets. India A will need plenty more of them. Glenn Maxwell has taken a liking to the Indians this series. He savaged them for an unbeaten 145 off 79 at No. 7 to launch Australia A from 152 for 8 to 298 for 8. That earned him a promotion to No. 4, from where he hit 93 off 56. What does he have in store for India A in the final? Quotes "There has been a run fest for the batters on this pitch and a hard time for the medium-pacers. We have a team of pretty aggressive players and we're all very experienced in one-day cricket, we're very confident of our abilities and it's been good that we haven't quite played our best cricket and yet we've won three matches so far." Aaron Finch, the Australia A captain

[Chandan]

I am not sure if you are kidding.every bowler (from all three countries) have been hit out of the park on this flat wicket and small ground' date='we just cannot evaluate any player(even Dhawan) on these kind of wickets.[/quote'] http://goo.gl/NOIC9m If you see, Australia A has better bowlers than both teams with better economy rates as well as more wickets. But SA A's test team is different from its test team whereas we are stuck with same bowlers, no? Who'll take wickets for us at Pretoria test? Can you tell me?

[rkt.india]

http://goo.gl/NOIC9m If you see, Australia A has better bowlers than both teams with better economy rates as well as more wickets. But SA A's test team is different from its test team whereas we are stuck with same bowlers, no? Who'll take wickets for us at Pretoria test? Can you tell me?

I think same SA A team had played against Aus and these are their best upcoming bowlers. It will be a draw like it was between Aus A and SA a if pitches still stay flat. I think SA A has mostly the same team in test too apart from Parnell and Duminy.

[FischerTal]

Ishwar Pandey came in for praise from the coach Lalchand Rajput in his only match of the series. Rajput said Pandey came back strongly after an expensive opening spell against South Africa A to bowl several yorkers at the death and pick up four wickets. India A will need plenty more of them.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/662187.html Good job Pandeyji :hatsoff:

[jj_28]

Ind A team: C Pujara, R Sharma, S Dhawan, S Raina, A Rayudu, D Karthik, W Saha, M Shami, P Rasool, I Pandey, S Nadeem.

India will bat first No Rahane, No Undakat :whack: :whack:

[Haarkarjeetgaye]

why not a new thread for final?