India's Tour to South Africa, 2013

[rkt.india]

If it is a pitch like Wanderers, one spinner is enough in Ashwin who can bat too. Jadeja should make way for an extra seamer. We played 4 seamers last time.

[Clarke]

So pissant is our savior now :cantstop:

[rkt.india]

So pissant is our savior now :cantstop:

:cantstop:

[tweaker]

I hope they adapt early,this is a 3 match odi series.

[jusarrived]

The blame goes to our Board for not having practice games for such an important tour..like batsmen even bowlers need time to adapt...even though the pitch was helpful , it still requires big changes to the length they bowl in indian conditions ..I expect them to do better in the next match..

[The Realist]

simple drop mohit and bring in yadav and if you wanna go a step further' date=' drop bhuvi and bring in Ishant. Bhuvi is completely out of form[/quote'] Eh? Retard Sharma has been out of form for about FOUR YEARS! Are you already forgetting his abysmal performance in the ODIs v Aus? Sharma is like the plague, avoid at all costs.

[kumar713]

Play Umesh Yadav

[msb1991]

The first game is very tough for most teams, especially with no tour games. Give them time and then assess the bowlers.

[vvvslaxman]

Indian bowling unit is million times inferior to SA bowling unit. Parnell hits 145 k easily which is ro ughly Umesh's speed. McLaren, Kallis all clock over 135k. Then we have Steyn, Morkel. It is a complete mismatch anyway you look at it both experiencewise or knowledgewise. This is a great experience for our bowlers. Zak shoudl guide them through in Test seriess. Ishant for all his experience is still playing like a noob. He should have reached a level where he should help others getting familiar with conditions.

[div]

Indian bowling unit is million times inferior to SA bowling unit. Parnell hits 145 k easily which is ro ughly Umesh's speed. McLaren' date= Kallis all clock over 135k. Then we have Steyn, Morkel. It is a complete mismatch anyway you look at it both experiencewise or knowledgewise. This is a great experience for our bowlers. Zak shoudl guide them through in Test seriess. Ishant for all his experience is still playing like a noob. He should have reached a level where he should help others getting familiar with conditions.

Only in South Africa..In India, I think Ishant has better test average than Morkel.

[vvvslaxman]

Only in South Africa..In India' date=' I think Ishant has better test average than Morkel.[/quote'] That is what i meant. It should not be considered as an insult. It is just a fact. Steyn has been around for so man years. So is Morkel. So is Kallis. Parnell had excellent guidance under these guys. It is natural they have a far better bowling unit in their familiar conditions. We have sent bunch of noobs from a country which have no real fast bowling culture. THere is no really to look upto or seek advise from. Most of them are self-made. Difference in quality is going to be obvious. This is where i am pissed off with Ishant sharma. He made his debut in what 2007? By now he should have reached a position where he can take stock of the situation and help others out. He himself needs help now. Umesh is not ath experienced, Bhuvan is not experienced, Shami is not experienced. We are weak in pace as well. Just look at Ashes. One man singlehandedl make a huge difference between the quality of the attacks.

[helperononline]

yuvi or raina needs to dropped after this series play umesh and ishant drop ashwin or jaddu go with 4 phaast bowlers

[deathmonger]

Truth be told, I'm happy the ODIs have been held before.

[vvvslaxman]

Our bowlers vs SA batsmen is an irrelevant contest anymore. There is going to be only one winner. IT is a straight shootout between their bowlers and our batsmen.

[Number]

Fired-up Dale Steyn warns India to expect more aggression

Durban: South African pacer Dale Steyn has warned the Indian team to "expect more aggressive bowling" in the second ODI on Sunday, saying that the visiting batsmen might end up "frightened" by their pace attack. Fresh from stunning the Men in Blue in the first match at Johannesburg, the fast bowler suggested that his team will not be letting up on their intensity and will be looking to seal the series here. "In India the ball doesn't get higher than the stumps. This is not Mumbai. Here, they cannot score easily in different areas and it is going to be hard to play here. And there is more of that coming on Sunday. "Hopefully we can have a similar performance [as in Johannesburg] as we did the other night, and we should be able to come through with a victory. It is a massive game for us, we have the chance to seal the series here and we would like to do so," said Steyn. Steyn said that the visiting batsmen might end up "frightened" by their pace attack. In the first ODI, Indian bowlers were clueless on a fast and bouncy wicket, as they conceded 358 runs to the Proteas. Thereafter, the Indian batsmen were clueless against the mighty pace of Steyn and company. In fact, it came as a disappointment to the hosts that they weren't challenged more by the number one side. "Our batsmen are batting really well and in some small way we have really given the Indians a taste of what the conditions are. Our intensity the other night really blew them away. Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin and other batsmen in the end, they didn't look like they wanted to line-up [to bat]," he said. "Then, I didn't see many of our players walking off the field with bloody fingers or ice packs on ribs. Wanderers can be scary, if you get a full day-night game there. You can inflict pain there, especially on that sort of a wicket. And we were able to do that as a bowling unit. It didn't look like that when they were bowling to us. So it definitely was a wake-up call for the Indians." When asked specifically, if their bowling attack had managed to frighten the Indian batsmen, Steyn replied: "I would think so. I would definitely like to think so. Even so, South Africa won't be taking their opposition lightly. "Like MS Dhoni said pre-match, they have been to South Africa a few times and they have played all over the world. So give them a few matches, they should be able to play well and perhaps get ready before the Test matches begin," Steyn said "Rohit Sharma scored a double hundred, just the other day, even though he couldn't put bat to ball in the last match. MS scored runs, Virat Kohli can bat, Shikhar Dhawan as well. We also showed them that they have a weakness in the middle order. So we want to exploit that a bit more," said Steyn. From the look of it, the Indian team might have another trying experience on their hands, as the pitch at Kingsmead stadium in Durban almost bore the look of the outfield. Not to mention, it has been raining consistently here and it will only add to the challenge. For the hosts, it will bring them another wide grin. "I haven't looked at the wicket up close, but from what I saw from the balcony, it looks pretty much like the outfield grass. I am not the one to complain about it though," he joked. "Over the years this pitch has slowed down and it doesn't offer as much pace as Johannesburg. But conditions look similar at the moment and it does look like rain tomorrow. We might not get a full game. But if we get forty overs, that is a full ODI match, so we will be prepared for whatever the weather throws at us." Since the pitch is similar to Wanderers, with the conditions adding on, Steyn was asked if he could put a thumb on where the Indian bowling had gone wrong. "They are doing well enough aren't they," he replied, with a smile.:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: "Though if you seriously look at it, they lack someone who can really bowl with pace up there. They need someone like that. Ishant Sharma is sitting on the sides and he is perhaps someone who can bowl at 140 km/hr. Our batsmen are in really good nick, so you need bowlers who can spin the ball a mile or can bowl quickly." . "Wanderers didn't offer any turn to Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja the other night, but it did offer something off the deck, pace. And they didn't have any bowlers like that the other night, but we did. So we kind of blew them away. If you don't have that, then you will be struggling in South Africa," Steyn said. "Tomorrow will decide how far the Indian team has come from Johannesburg, in terms of mental preparation if not actual match practice. Their initiation on this tour has been a tough one and for once South Africa will be hoping to have a better game, for a chance to take the series into the final and third game. "There are not many high totals in Durban either. It gets tougher to score at the back of the innings. We have been hoping all pitches across South Africa will offer some bounce and not just at Johannesburg. Also it looks like there will be some swing, since this weather doesn't look like going away," he said. There was only one question remaining to be asked then, with everyone gathered wondering if this high-intensity is the result of pre-tour politics. And Steyn was comfortably side-stepped that bouncer. "What board room politics? Oh, I don't know. We try to do that all the time when we bowl, we try to do that to every team that comes to South Africa and not just India."

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cricketnext/firedup-dale-steyn-warns-india-to-expect-more-aggression/438291-78.html Nothing fires up Dhoni but lets see how Rohit, Dhawan, Virat and Raina take it. Great interview, calling it as it is. No diplomacy. :hatsoff:

[StriKe]

Green pitch, overcast skies await India in Durban - Preview

In their first match on the tour of South Africa in 2006-07, India were bowled out for 91 in a 157-run defeat. Four years later they were blown away for 136 in a thrashing by an innings. On this tour it was the turn of their bowlers to be given a rude welcome. Rude enough for Dale Steyn to surmise that their bowling as it is won't work, and their batsmen were a little frightened. Once again, India find themselves in a familiar situation of trying to salvage the tour. One more similar day, and they will already have lost the ODI series. There is no time for pleasantries on this whistle-stop tour. There is going to be no let-up in South Africa's intent. During Johannesburg, some commentators wondered why they weren't given similarly quick pitches against Pakistan. They won't have much to complain about here; India have come to a green pitch in Durban, which is hard to distinguish from the square. It is overcast with spells of rain, and is expected to stay so during Sunday too. A tailor couldn't have cut India's task out better. South Africa, though, won't want to be complacent. They have been in this position before, and have dropped the ball previously too. Against India in 2010-11, they came here jubilant after an innings win, had a somewhat similar pitch and overhead conditions to work with, but were caught out by a rejuvenated India attack that included Zaheer Khan. South Africa have lost a Test here to Sri Lanka, too. Crowd-wise, Durban will be almost a home venue for India. The hosts won't want to give the spectators much to cheer about. Form guide South Africa WWLLW (last five completed games, most recent first) India LWLWW In the spotlight In the first ODI Rohit Sharma got a proper working over from Dale Steyn, but the positive aspect was that he didn't back away or play a crazy shot to find release. This is a big tour for Rohit, who seems to have finally turned the corner with the big ODI series against Australia and hundreds in both his first Tests. He will need to show similar grit on the rest of the tour, and it still won't be easy because it will require a lot of technique and patience too. Dale Steyn gave the India batsmen a bit of a reality check in Johannesburg. It took India 16 Steyn deliveries to lay bat on ball. Forget about scoring quick runs against him, if he is bowling like that. Rohit tried to play him out, Virat Kohli tried to disturb his lengths by taking risks, but nothing worked. If India are given a big target to chase, Steyn in similar form can decide the game in his first spell itself. Team news Vernon Philander, who tripped a day before the first ODI and injured his shoulder, is fit and available for selection. That can't be good news for India. He would have loved the conditions at the Wanderers, and will here too. He should replace one out of Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell in the XI. An injured Imran Tahir is 50-50 for the selection, but an educated guess after looking at the pitch says he will not be needed. South Africa (likely) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk) 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Vernon Philander, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe/Wayne Parnell India don't have many quick fixes to their problems. Most of the repair work will have to be done by the same personnel. They could think of bringing in Ajinya Rahane ahead of possibly Yuvraj Singh. Their Test specialists have stayed back in Johannesburg so a slightly drastic step of including Cheteshwar Pujara to bring in solidity has been ruled out. With the ball they might want to bring in a quicker bowler after their first-choice bowlers were found short on pace and menace. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma are their options. It will be interesting to see if they go for a fourth quick. India (likely) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Umesh Yadav/Ishant Sharma, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohit Sharma Pitch and conditions Let Steyn summarise it for you: "I have looked at it from the balcony. Looks exactly like the outfield. I am not going to complain about that. I haven't been down so I don't what it looks like close up." Overhead, it has been mainly overcast. It rained quite a bit two days before the match, and there might be an odd drizzle overnight. An overcast Sunday with 20% chance of rain has been overcast, but you can't really predict weather in South Africa. Stats and trivia India have never won an ODI against South Africa in Durban. Their highest score against the hosts here is 234, the only time they have crossed 200 in six attempts. Hashim Amla hasn't enjoyed his home venue much. In four ODIs here, he has managed only 109 runs, which is still better than his Test average of 21 at Kingsmead. Quotes "I think our intensity the other night really blew them away. I think we also showed them that they have a weakness in the middle order. Raina, Ashwin, Yuvraj, other batters in the end, they didn't really look like they wanted to get in line." Dale Steyn isn't quite impressed with what India brought to the first match "I don't think anyone in this Indian team is frightened of anything. We didn't see anyone close their eyes to a bouncer or play rash strokes." Virat Kohli promises the batsmen will fight hard

[div]

:(( Yuvraj and Sir Jadeja should sit out.

[Zanjeer]

from what I saw from the balcony, it looks pretty much like the outfield grass. I am not the one to complain about it though," he joked.

:hysterical::hysterical: Awesome. I wanna see blood on the pitch. Lets see what sort of bowling attack dhoni picks tomorrow..

[Silva]

Reading some of their statements it looks like bcci really hurt their feelings. Personaly I don't really care about the odi series. I am pretty sure dhoni and patil are just experimenting before the wc.

[Zanjeer]

Looks like the weather is not good...