Ami i the only one who thinks Philander played Sensibly?

[zep1706]

Smith later told he respected their call. So we cannot assume things. Steyn was not happy for denying single. That should have been a clue that there was no instruction from anyone.

Smith can claim anything he wants to but very few would believe him on this. Steyn probably was not happy because there was no risk involved in that single even if he was instructed to block it out.

[vvvslaxman]

Smith can claim anything he wants to but very few would believe him on this. Steyn probably was not happy because there was no risk involved in that single even if he was instructed to block it out.

Sorry man. your accusation purely based on assumption to suit your argument. Steyn was the last man to join. He was the one who wanted single. May be the instruction was to go for win? Why couldn't you assume like that isntead of assuming they went for draw.

[Lord]

Test cricket needs such games to end in a result.nobody wants to see a draw.thats one reason why LOIs bring in the crowds Also great sides like WI of 80s and Aussies of 00s are famous for their positive attitude,they'd rather lose trying to win then go for safety first approach

[vvvslaxman]

Test cricket needs such games to end in a result.nobody wants to see a draw.thats one reason why LOIs bring in the crowds Also great sides like WI of 80s and Aussies of 00s are famous for their positive attitude,they'd rather lose trying to win then go for safety first approach

Because they were winning everything. An odd loss won't mean much. REmember Gilly's declaration in both innings in England where they set a meagre target of 310 for England. England went on to win it . Mark Butcher made 173. Even though Australia dominated the test they took that step. Don't think SA is that good a side. Frankly they never claimed to be one. They are far above the current interntaional teams. But they haven't reached the level. It is unrealistic to expect every no.1 team to get to the level of all time great teams. I remember Steve waugh saying exactly this during his last series "There are times we have to play for draw". They burnt their hands badly at the adlaide oval by trying to be over-aggressive. What would have been series win ended in series draw.

[zep1706]

Sorry man. your accusation purely based on assumption to suit your argument. Steyn was the last man to join. He was the one who wanted single. May be the instruction was to go for win? Why couldn't you assume like that isntead of assuming they went for draw.

Actually we are veering off the real issue here. It doesn't really matter if that was a team management decision or a decision taken by the two batsmen. The team still get blamed as I have explained above. The real argument here is whether those tactics were right or not. I have already explained where I stand on this.

[vvvslaxman]

Actually we are veering off the real issue here. It doesn't really matter if that was a team management decision or a decision taken by the two batsmen. The team still get blamed as I have explained above. The real argument here is whether those tactics were right or not. I have already explained where I stand on this.

Right or Wrong depends on what result the tailender preferred . Safety first approach will be the first thing for majority of tailenders in such scenarios. First thought would be in a hard fought test would be "not to lose" more than "win taking a gamble". All the hard work you did for 115 overs will come to nothing if your gamble doesn't pay off. YOu don't want to carry that stigma for the rest of your life do you? It is not like they were up against some club bowlers. Zak is a skilful bowler, So is Shami. High time we start giving credit to our bowlers. He didn't want Steyn to be exposed to Zak as he can easily mop a tail .

[vvvslaxman]

How would you compare this to the draw in Adelaide last year? Would you say this is a bigger achievement? It's definitely a better achievement than Adelaide. Maybe we did not have such a great bowling attack that we faced here, but Johannesburg is a lively pitch where not a lot of Tests go to day five. I can't remember the last time didn't get a result at the Wanderers. To get away with a draw and to bat so much time was a hell of an achievement. There's so many things to take into consideration. People who don't know the game that well will still blame us but if you look at it - wickets in clusters, that always happens at the Wanderers. It was tough for the new batter and that showed when JP came in. Myself and Faf struggled for the first 20 balls, so those are all the things you have to think of. There was a lot of things going through Dale's mind at the end there. So I would say it was a very good draw. http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2013-14/content/story/703517.html

[zep1706]

Right or Wrong depends on what result the tailender preferred . Safety first approach will be the first thing for majority of tailenders in such scenarios.

That is where you and I differ. I think in this particular case both "safety first" and "trying to win" approaches weren't mutually exclusive because of the number of runs they had to score and number of wickets they had in hand. They could have done both at the same time. Anyways none of us is going to be able to convince the other here. Let's agree to disagree.

[rkt.india]

Test cricket needs such games to end in a result.nobody wants to see a draw.thats one reason why LOIs bring in the crowds Also great sides like WI of 80s and Aussies of 00s are famous for their positive attitude,they'd rather lose trying to win then go for safety first approach

Thing is no team deserved to lose. Test cricket was never only about result. For that, you have ODIs and T20s. Even if we had a result, it would not have made this test any better than it was. I believe any result than draw in the last moments would have been unfair on both teams. Both played superbly. If SA had capitulated like first innings then I would have said India dominated them, but SA dominated 5 out of 6 sessions of last 2 days and India before that, so draw makes it a fair result. This is the beauty of test cricket, not just win or lose.

[urbestfriend]

Thing is no team deserved to lose. Test cricket was never only about result. For that' date= you have ODIs and T20s. Even if we had a result, it would not have made this test any better than it was. I believe any result than draw in the last moments would have been unfair on both teams. Both played superbly. If SA had capitulated like first innings then I would have said India dominated them, but SA dominated 5 out of 6 sessions of last 2 days and India before that, so draw makes it a fair result. This is the beauty of test cricket, not just win or lose.

:cantstop: Are you saying Steyn and Philander thought going for win is not fair for India?

[Cricketics]

Test cricket was never only about result. For that' date=' you have ODIs and T20s. .[/quote'] :hysterical: Abey kya bol raha hai tu.

[Lord]

Thing is no team deserved to lose. Test cricket was never only about result. For that' date=' you have ODIs and T20s. Even if we had a result, it would not have made this test any better than it was. I believe any result than draw in the last moments would have been unfair on both teams. Both played superbly. If SA had capitulated like first innings then I would have said India dominated them, but SA dominated 5 out of 6 sessions of last 2 days and India before that, so draw makes it a fair result. This is the beauty of test cricket, not just win or lose.[/quote'] arrey yaar even in ODI there are close matches where Shastri says cricket is the real winner,no team deserved to lose etc.still you have result,na?

[Cricketics]

Shastri says cricket is the real winner' date='no team deserved to lose[/quote'] Don't know why, but this gave me laugh. I actually always laugh at those little things. Gives me a chuckle when someone says this kind of stuff. Also lot of shyt people say after every random 5 set tennis match, tennis is a winner. Game is having series of unforced errors from the higher seeded player which forces the game into fifth set, and tennis is being called the winner.

[Sidhoni]

The 2 test series also affected the result. I think Saffers may have gone for it if this was a 3 or 4 test series.

[Old guy]

The 2 test series also affected the result. I think Saffers may have gone for it if this was a 3 or 4 test series.

good point..

[Detonator]

Don't know why, but this gave me laugh. I actually always laugh at those little things. Gives me a chuckle when someone says this kind of stuff. Also lot of shyt people say after every random 5 set tennis match, tennis is a winner. Game is having series of unforced errors from the higher seeded player which forces the ame into fifty set, and tennis is being called the winner.

:hysterical: :hysterical: true that :two_thumbs_up:

[Cricketics]

Let me make it shorter and easier and the language which should be prefererd by a 5th grade today. Indai fked it up by not getting any wicket in the mid session. South Africa bottled it by not making 50 odd in last 14 overs with 5 in hand including faf and de villers who were over 100+ Both fked it up. and Cricket is the fkin winer hence.

[Lord]

Let me make it shorter and easier and the language which should be prefererd by a 5th grade today. Indai fked it up by not getting any wicket in the mid session. South Africa bottled it by not making 50 odd in last 14 overs with 5 in hand including faf and de villers who were over 100+ Both fked it up. and Cricket is the fkin winer hence.

:cantstop:

[rkt.india]

:cantstop: Are you saying Steyn and Philander thought going for win is not fair for India?

No. They thought they could lose and did not want to.

[rkt.india]

Let me make it shorter and easier and the language which should be prefererd by a 5th grade today. Indai fked it up by not getting any wicket in the mid session. South Africa bottled it by not making 50 odd in last 14 overs with 5 in hand including faf and de villers who were over 100+ Both fked it up. and Cricket is the fkin winer hence.

You T20 fans. :winky: PS: Thing is not team fkd up anything. It is not like SA gifted us wickets to *** it up in the end or India gave them easy runs and bowled poorly and never tried to take wickets. Cricket was good from both sides, determined. This is how you should see it. I could understand teams ***ing it up we had dropped catches or bowled poorly or SA batted poorly and choked. Our bowlers kept them under pressure and they stayed calm and did not crumble under that pressure. Look at how many times Faf was hit on his knuckles with some variable bounce but he maintained his calm and only a brilliant piece of field by Rahane could dislodge him and on the other hand, Rahane showed even in the *** end, he was ready for his team. No team played poor cricket. This is why you cannot say any team ***ed it up.