1st Test: South Africa v India - Pre Match Discussion

[Sandeep99]

Smith can as well take it to South African dressing room. Can't see the series going into the 7th day..

[JourneyMan]

the key to success is patience and batting yourself in. Leave the good balls' date=' put away the bad balls. Don't let Steyn and Co's sledging tempt you into playing a shot that is not on. The key to our failure in the ODIs (apart from our bowling lacking bite) was the fact that we got carried away with over attacking to prove a point. S Dhawan got out twice to shots that were not quite there. our success in CT2013 actually stemmed from top order consolidation and then attacking once they played themselves in. We were unable to do that in the ODIs due to heavy scoreboard pressure. The same in the recent test series against Aus: Murali Vijay and Chepu would grind the hell out of Australia's bowlers in the morning and first half of afternoon session often scoring at about 2.4rpo and once the bowlers were worn down- we cashed in.[/quote'] Fully agree with this

[NareshK]

the key to success is patience and batting yourself in. Leave the good balls' date=' put away the bad balls. Don't let Steyn and Co's sledging tempt you into playing a shot that is not on. The key to our failure in the ODIs (apart from our bowling lacking bite) was the fact that we got carried away with over attacking to prove a point. S Dhawan got out twice to shots that were not quite there. our success in CT2013 actually stemmed from top order consolidation and then attacking once they played themselves in. We were unable to do that in the ODIs due to heavy scoreboard pressure. The same in the recent test series against Aus: Murali Vijay and Chepu would grind the hell out of Australia's bowlers in the morning and first half of afternoon session often scoring at about 2.4rpo and once the bowlers were worn down- we cashed in.[/quote'] Its easier said than done in SA conditions. Steyn's outswing deliveries are like facing a leg spinner at 150k. He also bowls such a nagging length on the off stump that its very tough to know which ones to leave and which ones to play. Morkel has the height and gets lots of bounce on these surfaces. Playing against them regularly in such conditions may give you some idea but its still tough to score.

[tweaker]

I think Philander will be the key.They will play Steyn & Morkel with respect and will try to attack Philander.But Philander is not any ordinary bowler.