I am very happy

[Ram]

Happy? HAPPY? We just drew a test we should have won (and for eff's sake, we nearly lost that too) and we lost a test - badly too - that we should have a drawn. There were batting collapses in the both the innings of the 2nd test, indicating that there's a pervasive presence of mental toughness issues in the team. Our captain is struggling to score any meaningful runs abroad, batting at that crucial no.7 position. Our main spinner is going through an extended dry run of form. Our pacers have blown hot and cold (mostly cold, if you discount the 1st innings at Joberg) and our openrs are far from solid. This is a team in flux.

[King Tendulkar]

Happy? HAPPY? We just drew a test we should have won (and for eff's sake, we nearly lost that too) and we lost a test - badly too - that we should have a drawn. There were batting collapses in the both the innings of the 2nd test, indicating that there's a pervasive presence of mental toughness issues in the team. Our captain is struggling to score any meaningful runs abroad, batting at that crucial no.7 position. Our main spinner is going through an extended dry run of form. Our pacers have blown hot and cold (mostly cold, if you discount the 1st innings at Joberg) and our openrs are far from solid. This is a team in flux.

Yes winning is whats its all about. And I tell you the players will be thinking exactly what you say above and that is right. But as a fan who can take a step back and look at bigger picture, this was very good performnace from a BRAND NEW TEAM, on FIRST TOUR AWAY! Rome was not built in a day. In sports you dont suddenly have brand new team and of you go. Teams take time to develop, We will develop and we will get better and become a major force. Or are people thinking Rahane Pujara Kohli Jadeja and Shami will get worse? I dont thinks so chaps. We are going to get better every day passing.

[Ram]

Yes winning is whats its all about. And I tell you the players will be thinking exactly what you say above and that is right. But as a fan who can take a step back and look at bigger picture, this was very good performnace from a BRAND NEW TEAM, on FIRST TOUR AWAY! Rome was not built in a day. In sports you dont suddenly have brand new team and of you go. Teams take time to develop, We will develop and we will get better and become a major force. Or are peopl thinking Rahane Pujara Kohli Jadeja and Shami will get worse? I dont thinks so chaps. We are going to get better every day passing.

Don’t understand what you mean by ‘new’ team.. Most of these guys are multi-year international veterans. The one true newcomer to international cricket is Shami. Since when has losing an abroad series become a reason to ‘feel happy’. If you compare our performance from the last time we were in SAF, our performance has regressed. Unless of course you expected us to be walloped by an innings at 200 runs in both these games but are now happy that we were able to put ourselves in winning positions, don’t know how you can look at these results favorably.

[King Tendulkar]

Don’t understand what you mean by ‘new’ team.. Most of these guys are multi-year international veterans. The one true newcomer to international cricket is Shami. Since when has losing an abroad series become a reason to ‘feel happy’. If you compare our performance from the last time we were in SAF' date=' our performance has regressed. Unless of course you expected us to be walloped by an innings at 200 runs in both these games but are now happy that we were able to put ourselves in winning positions, don’t know how you can look at these results favorably.[/quote'] When you look at our last two tours in england and australia, you will understand why happy with performnace. You dont seem to ackowledge we have young team. Many on first tour overseas, they did ok. Do you not think they will improve after this, they are at age were get better and better? Most of this team is first time played and toured overseas. Not just ovserseas but aginst best team in the world , with best pace attack in the world. We stood up tall and on fast joberg pitch were superb against steyn. From team today not many have played overseas tests before Kohli a few in aus, Puujara one in last tour of SA(look how much he has improved since then, shows how young players can improve). Dhoni, Ishant and Zak are players who have had played many times overseas and experienced, they will not get better and need to go. WE WILL GET BETTER. WE ARE SET FOR NEXT 5 YEARS. Why everyone panicking? Jeez dravid, kummble and co took a lot longer to start showing this kind of performance. I am suprised so many hit the ground running. Real good signs. Are you not optimisitic about Kohli , Pujara and Rahane? Dont you think they will do well over next few years?

[King Tendulkar]

Don’t understand what you mean by ‘new’ team.. Most of these guys are multi-year international veterans. The one true newcomer to international cricket is Shami. Since when has losing an abroad series become a reason to ‘feel happy’. If you compare our performance from the last time we were in SAF' date=' our performance has regressed. [b']Unless of course you expected us to be walloped by an innings at 200 runs in both these games but are now happy that we were able to put ourselves in winning positions, don’t know how you can look at these results favorably.

Well I was semi expecting it:giggle:

[Ram]

When you look at our last two tours in england and australia, you will understand why happy with performnace. You dont seem to ackowledge we have young team. Many on first tour overseas, they did ok. Do you not think they will improve after this, they are at age were get better and better? Most of this team is first time played and toured overseas. Not just ovserseas but aginst best team in the world , with best pace attack in the world. We stood up tall and on fast joberg pitch were superb against steyn. From team today not many have played overseas tests before Kohli a few in aus, Puujara one in last tour of SA(look how much he has improved since then, shows how young players can improve). Dhoni, Ishant and Zak are players who have had played many times overseas and experienced, they will not get better and need to go. WE WILL GET BETTER. WE ARE SET FOR NEXT 5 YEARS. Why everyone panicking? Jeez dravid, kummble and co took a lot longer to start showing this kind of performance. I am suprised so many hit the ground running. Real good signs. Are you not optimisitic about Kohli , Pujara and Rahane? Dont you think they will do well over next few years?

Cant compare the previous generation of cricketers to the current guys. These days, young players get plenty of exposure to top level action via various avenues that didn’t exist before (A tours, Academies, IPL Etc). Forget now, Rohit Sharma looked ready for test cricket in 2008! Vijay, Pujara and Kohli all made their test debuts nearly 3 years ago. Given this, to give these players the rookie pass is extremely generous. And it is our performance (not the result) that bothers me like hell. I still cannot understand how in God’s green earth we let South Africa score nearly 350 runs on a day 5 track. That is almost unheard of! You saw today it difficult it is to score/survive on a day 5 pitch. It is almost like the Saffies telling ‘Bacche, you screwed it up on day 5 in Jo’berg..now let your baap show you how it is done here in Durban..’

[ThePhenomenal1]

Just wanted to share something, its shoab akhtar taking 6 wickets against NZ. Towards the end of the vid, Wasim Akram says a very important thing: The fast bowlers win you the matches. It's this simple ideology that India (esp dhoni) haven't understood. They don't have to be world class straight away but if they can trouble batsmen and take wickets, what else do you need? jRTEule6MAc India could have won the 1st test atleast if they had 3 good pacers. We didn't. I urge selectors to pick yadav, aaron, pandey, kulkarni (if fit) and bhuvi.

[Sidhoni]

First overseas series for the young guns that too against numero uno. The place where touring teams have folded up for sub 50 scores in the past. And our young batsmen outscore theirs. Bowling can improve still but this will help them.

[bulbul]

^ Any comments about experienced Captain?

[King Tendulkar]

I thought we might have a horrible 5 years, getting bowled out for 100 all the time and oppo getting 600 :hysterical: Its clear things will be ok and we have some great times ahead. Yeah not going to win every series and ups and downs. But life as an indian fan wont be that bad over next few years

[Vijy]

Cant compare the previous generation of cricketers to the current guys. These days, young players get plenty of exposure to top level action via various avenues that didn’t exist before (A tours, Academies, IPL Etc). Forget now, Rohit Sharma looked ready for test cricket in 2008! Vijay, Pujara and Kohli all made their test debuts nearly 3 years ago. Given this, to give these players the rookie pass is extremely generous. And it is our performance (not the result) that bothers me like hell. I still cannot understand how in God’s green earth we let South Africa score nearly 350 runs on a day 5 track. That is almost unheard of! You saw today it difficult it is to score/survive on a day 5 pitch. It is almost like the Saffies telling ‘Bacche, you screwed it up on day 5 in Jo’berg..now let your baap show you how it is done here in Durban..’

Agree with this. In the beginning, it looked as if we'd done okay, but on retrospect our bowling was s***e and a couple of our batsman were c**p and it clearly indicated that they lacked them s*****h for a fight.

[express bowling]

I thought we might have a horrible 5 years, getting bowled out for 100 all the time and oppo getting 600 :hysterical: Its clear things will be ok and we have some great times ahead. Yeah not going to win every series and ups and downs. But life as an indian fan wont be that bad over next few years

I agree as far as the batting is concerned, bro. Kohli, Pujara and Rahane have been wonderful. Vijay has been decent. Our test batting is in safe hands for the next 7 yrs or more. We will really enjoy this aspect. The bowling, on the other hand, remains a cause for worry. Only Shami has been good. Umesh is not being picked and may lose momentum. Ishant will be picked , no matter how bad. Not sure Aaron will come in. Spinners too are mediocre. Captaincy is stale in tests but won't change. If 20 wickets can't be picked then how can we win tests abroad. Only way is to pick some wicket takers and some genuine quicks coupled with atleast standard captaincy. But would that happen ?

[Vijay.Sharma]

I understand King Tendulkar's optimism about the Indian team and I am optimistic too. However, we have not done much to write home about. If not losing the series 0-2 is some kinda victory then, yes, we have "accomplished" something. But that's not what I am looking for. Consider this - If your batsmen cannot come good at least 50% of the time then you cannot defend against a loss. India, as a collective batting unit, came good once in four attempts i.e. 25% of the time. No matter how much we harp about the grit and determination shown by our batsmen they could not help avoid a defeat in the series. Contrast with the SA batting unit. They came good twice in three attempts - 67% of the time. Their batting unit ensured they defended against any possible defeats In Test cricket if your bowling cannot bowl well twice in a Test then you cannot win a Test. India bowled well once in three attempts - 33% of the time. This meant that the bowling unit did not give us even a chance at victory. Contrast with SA and their bowling unit did well thrice in four attempts - 75% of the time. This ensured SA won at least one game. I am not too sure what we are so happy about.

[CG]

:giggle:

^ Any comments about experienced Captain?

[NareshK]

I understand King Tendulkar's optimism about the Indian team and I am optimistic too. However, we have not done much to write home about. If not losing the series 0-2 is some kinda victory then, yes, we have "accomplished" something. But that's not what I am looking for. Consider this - If your batsmen cannot come good at least 50% of the time then you cannot defend against a loss. India, as a collective batting unit, came good once in four attempts i.e. 25% of the time. No matter how much we harp about the grit and determination shown by our batsmen they could not help avoid a defeat in the series. Contrast with the SA batting unit. They came good twice in three attempts - 67% of the time. Their batting unit ensured they defended against any possible defeats In Test cricket if your bowling cannot bowl well twice in a Test then you cannot win a Test. India bowled well once in three attempts - 33% of the time. This meant that the bowling unit did not give us even a chance at victory. Contrast with SA and their bowling unit did well thrice in four attempts - 75% of the time. This ensured SA won at least one game. I am not too sure what we are so happy about.

I would say our batting came good 3 out of 4 times. 280 was a good score in the first innings of first test as SA were bowled out for 240 odd in their first innings. We got a lead there. Second innings, we scored 420. In the first innings of 2nd test, India were 180-1 at one stage and could only get 334 but you just have to give credit to Steyn for the way he bowled. He is one of the greatest bowlers of all time giving everything and he bowled a great spell. We also had some bad luck as we couldnt cash in when bowlers were tired in the final session and play had to be called off due to bad light. Still 334 is a good score if we had bowled well in 1st innings which we didnt. Batting in final innings on 5th day under pressure will always be tough. Kohli got a bad decision, Pujara got a great ball. Rahane did superbly. I'm happy with our batting and the way its shaping up but its the bowling which needs a lot of work. If the bowling had been half as good as our batting, we could have won the series.

[Vijay.Sharma]

I would say our batting came good 3 out of 4 times. 280 was a good score in the first innings of first test as SA were bowled out for 240 odd in their first innings. We got a lead there. Second innings, we scored 420. In the first innings of 2nd test, India were 180-1 at one stage and could only get 334 but you just have to give credit to Steyn for the way he bowled. He is one of the greatest bowlers of all time giving everything and he bowled a great spell. We also had some bad luck as we couldnt cash in when bowlers were tired in the final session and play had to be called off due to bad light. Still 334 is a good score if we had bowled well in 1st innings which we didnt. Batting in final innings on 5th day under pressure will always be tough. Kohli got a bad decision, Pujara got a great ball. Rahane did superbly. I'm happy with our batting and the way its shaping up but its the bowling which needs a lot of work. If the bowling had been half as good as our batting, we could have won the series.

I am hopeful too, about our batting. However securing a 40 run lead when their batting has failed is not a great thing. Had we secured a 40 run lead when they scored 400 then it would be a good comparison. What makes the 280 in the first innings look good is because our bowling coincidentally bowled well in their first innings. Besides if you cannot score at least 350 in the first dig of a Test then your batting has necessarily not done a good job, collectively. And SA not scoring 350 in their first dig does not excuse the infraction by our batting unit. Our batting will be able to defend Tests (which is what is the primary role of a batting unit in more than 90% of Tests) only when they consistently score at least 350 in the first dig. The bowling was pathetic. No argument there.

[NareshK]

I am hopeful too' date=' about our batting. However securing a 40 run lead when their batting has failed is not a great thing. Had we secured a 40 run lead when they scored 400 then it would be a good comparison. What makes the 280 in the first innings look good is because our bowling [b']coincidentally bowled well in their first innings. Besides if you cannot score at least 350 in the first dig of a Test then your batting has necessarily not done a good job, collectively. And SA not scoring 350 in their first dig does not excuse the infraction by our batting unit. Our batting will be able to defend Tests (which is what is the primary role of a batting unit in more than 90% of Tests) only when they consistently score at least 350 in the first dig. The bowling was pathetic. No argument there.

Wanderers track was offering a lot to bowlers in first 3 days. It got a bit slower as the game went on. 280 in first innings on that track against those bowlers is a great effort. If Ishant and Zaheer got 4 wickets on that pitch, imagine how much more tougher it would have been to face Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Kallis.

[Vijay.Sharma]

Wanderers track was offering a lot to bowlers in first 3 days. It got a bit slower as the game went on. 280 in first innings on that track against those bowlers is a great effort. If Ishant and Zaheer got 4 wickets on that pitch' date=' imagine how much more tougher it would have been to face Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Kallis.[/quote']Maybe the Saffers thought India would roll over easily and hence were surprised when we ended the day at 250 for 5. The Saffer attack was taken by surprise but they recalibrated and folded us for 280 the next morning. No great achievement by India's batting unit I'd think. You might argue that the tail bundled out for 35 runs the next morning. But then your top 6 should be responsible to score at least 80% of the team's runs...in other words, your top 6 should score at least 280 runs if the team together has to make at least 350. Our top 6 made something like 225 - not good enough. The main objective of a batting unit, especially in the first innings, is to bat the opposition out of the game. This cannot happen in every game because not all tracks will allow you to do that. But at least in 3 out of every 10 games your batting unit should score 500. Give yourself a margin of error and excuse the unit when they don't put up 350 in 2 of 10 games. In the other 5 games you want them to score at least 350 so they give the bowlers a chance to make a match out of it. I would reserve my praise for this batting unit until we can put up 350 (hopefully 400+) consistently in NZ and Eng. Until then I am hopeful and optimistic. We can lay the blame solely on the bowling unit when we lose games provided our batting does it's job consistently.

[NareshK]

Maybe the Saffers thought India would roll over easily and hence were surprised when we ended the day at 250 for 5. The Saffer attack was taken by surprise but they recalibrated and folded us for 280 the next morning. No great achievement by India's batting unit I'd think. You might argue that the tail bundled out for 35 runs the next morning. But then your top 6 should be responsible to score at least 80% of the team's runs...in other words, your top 6 should score at least 280 runs if the team together has to make at least 350. Our top 6 made something like 225 - not good enough. The main objective of a batting unit, especially in the first innings, is to bat the opposition out of the game. This cannot happen in every game because not all tracks will allow you to do that. But at least in 3 out of every 10 games your batting unit should score 500. Give yourself a margin of error and excuse the unit when they don't put up 350 in 2 of 10 games. In the other 5 games you want them to score at least 350 so they give the bowlers a chance to make a match out of it. I would reserve my praise for this batting unit until we can put up 350 (hopefully 400+) consistently in NZ and Eng. Until then I am hopeful and optimistic. We can lay the blame solely on the bowling unit when we lose games provided our batting does it's job consistently.

These are not tracks where you score 350 consistently. 350 is a big score in SA because there will always be something for the bowlers (even on Durban track) unless you are batting against Indian bowling attack, then even 500 is easily achievable.

[Vijay.Sharma]

These are not tracks where you score 350 consistently. 350 is a big score in SA because there will always be something for the bowlers (even on Durban track) unless you are batting against Indian bowling attack' date=' then even 500 is easily achievable.[/quote']350 is a good score on most tracks...may not be a big one. And that's my point - it is to make a good score in your first dig. My point is about putting up a good first innings total. 350 is a guideline not a rule. But you would find that teams that score 350 in their first dig don't end up on the losing side often. The reason SA is the number 1 team in the world is because they score 350 in their first dig more than other teams do. This allows their bowlers the freedom to go after the opposition. Of course they also have the bowlers who can defend even below 300 first innings scores. But when their batting ensures that defeat is more or less out of the question, the bowling ensures that victory is the only option left. If we have to be number 1 then we need that kinda mindset. And I am not happy settling for number 2.